


Canyon Moon

by delsicle



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Harry, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, American AU, Anal Sex, Angst, Animal Transformation, Arranged Marriage, Childhood Friends, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Knotting, M/M, Mating Bond, Mating Rituals, Mutual Pining, Omega Louis, Pining, Reconciliation, Soulmates, Tender Sex, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:13:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 40,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21942700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delsicle/pseuds/delsicle
Summary: For as long as Louis has remembered, he has been promised to be mated to Harry, his best friend and the future pack alpha. But Louis’s heart belonged to the forest and to the hunt more than he could ever imagine it belonging to Harry.Then Harry’s father dies in a violent accident, and Louis’s future alpha disappears on the wind.An A/B/O Lion King AU
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 236
Kudos: 1375





	1. Chapter 1

On the first winter day that the cold broke and the snow on the ground started to melt, Louis woke up to the sound of cries coming from the alpha’s tent.

He woke startled, and looked around at the interior of his family’s tent. He was alone in the rug of furs, when usually his parents would be close by. He sat up, squinting, and gasped weakly when he heard another cry.

“Papa?” he called, “Mama?”

He heard rustling outside their tent, and then, clearly, his father’s voice.

“Darling, get Louis,” his father said, and a moment later, the tent flap was opening and Louis’s mother was coming in. She was still sleep-rumbled, her hair free and flowing rather than tied down in the elegant braids she normally wore. She was still in her sleep wrap, one of Louis’s father’s fur throws on her shoulders and a pair of his boots on her feet.

Another cry sounded out, and Louis gasped again.

“Mama,” he said softly, and his mother sat with him on the furs, holding out her arms to him.

“Come on, little flower,” she cooed, “It’s alright.”

Louis whimpered weakly and crawled into his mother’s arm, nestling against her warm chest.

“What’s happening, Mama?”

“Something wonderful is happening,” his mother said, and her voice was so bright he could hear the smile in her voice, “Our next alpha is being born.”

Louis frowned.

“We have an alpha,” he said, and his mother smiled.

“I know, sweetheart. But you’ve seen Omega Styles lately, haven’t you? And how her belly is as round as a moon?”

“Yes,” Louis replied, “Her pup is living in her belly.”

“Yes, that’s right, my smart boy,” she smiled, “And today he’s coming out. And he will be our next alpha.”

“Oh,” Louis said, his eyes wide as he looked up at his mother.

“Your father is going to check on them now,” she said, “We will hear when it comes time for us.”

Louis nodded, settling into his mother’s chest again. He kept hearing screams, high and sharp in the cold morning air. Outside their tent there were footsteps, more and more members of the pack awakening and traveling to the source of the noise. Louis just stayed pressed to the safety of his mother as the cries went on and the night melted into day.

Soon, the tent flap parted again, and this time, Louis’s father stepped in. He was a bit more dressed than Louis and his mother, with his hair tied back and his good winter wear on. He smiled at the two of them, and then nodded.

“They want us in the tent,” he said, “Let’s go and greet our little prince when he comes out.”

Louis’s mother smiled and held him tightly as she stood up. He clung to her and she kissed his head, comforting him. Sometimes his father chided him on being too old to be carried, but now, he only gave Louis a warm smile and a kiss in turn.

The alpha’s tent was tall and wide, skins and thick pieces of leather and human-world-bought fabric stretched over a vast circle of sturdy poles. The top was pitched high, the center pole tied with leathers and stones and good luck talismans. The sides were painted with flowering fields and newborn fawns, dark blue rivers and silver fish, and many, many running wolves. It sat in the very center of the establishment, and when Louis’s family moved towards it, the rest of the pack was sitting outside. Children were pressed to their parents, grandparents were speaking quietly in a language the pack didn’t remember any more. Louis looked around with wide eyes, but his mother just stroked his hair and pressed forward.

Louis’s father parted the tent flap, letting them inside. Louis’s eyes widened a bit when he saw Omega Styles on the floor; the woman who was usually moving so happily around camp, singing and helping the pups with their chores, was sweating and pale, her eyes wide as she cried out. Alpha Styles was next to her, his hand firmly in her own as he held onto her and tried to comfort her. He wasn’t even dressed in his ceremonial best, only a fur slung over his bed clothes. He looked tired, but his eyes were bright as he spoke to his mate.

“It’s alright, my darling, any moment now,” he cooed. He looked up when Louis’s father took a step closer, and smiled.

“Marcus,” he said, and then looked behind them, “Johannah. Louis. Thank you for coming.”

“Of course,” Louis’s mother nodded.

They moved to sit, and Louis sat up in his mother’s lap, letting her hold him steady.

Omega Styles was slick with sweat and whimpering as she shifted and spoke to her mate and the other high pack omegas, who were moving all around her, tending to her. Louis tried to keep watching, equal parts worried and fascinated by the omega’s pale, strained face. But when her cries got especially loud, her face growing more purple and red, Johannah shielded Louis’s face, holding him against her shoulder instead. He wriggled against her, trying to see what was being hidden from him, but his mother just held him tighter. Louis heard more cries, more shouting, more worried rustling. His mother and father were speaking between themselves and to the pack alpha and omega, their voices too hushed and quick for Louis to understand.

Louis tried to pull away again to look, but Johannah held him steady, and Louis felt his mother’s chest jump and hitch as she inhaled.

And then, an almighty wailing emerged. It was higher than Omega’s Styles’ cries; it cut through the air immediately, bright like moonlight and steady and never-ending. Johannah let Louis go, and he immediately turned to look, his eyes immediately growing wide.

Louis could just stare as the pack doctor held a tiny body in his hands, quickly grabbing the blankets to clean and wrap the baby up. The baby’s crying continued, its mouth wide and red, and Omega Styles was crying now, tears slipping down her paling face as the doctor handed the bundle to her.

She cooed over her baby, with Alpha Styles right at her shoulder, looking at the baby and speaking gently.

Louis watched them, quiet as he observed the pair, their faces bright despite the cries from earlier. The baby was whimpering now, the cries lessened as he was held, and he felt the smile on his mother’s lips as she kissed his cheek.

“That’s our next alpha,” she said.

Louis could only nod as he looked on. He had seen other babies in the pack, small pups that his mother helped tend to alongside Omega Styles. But he had never seen one so small, or clearly, one so important.

Omega Styles looked up after a long moment and then smiled, her face still bright.

“Jay,” she said softly, “Come hold him, please.”

Johannah smiled and stood up, reaching up to accept the pup. She held him so carefully, and offered Louis a smile as she came over, crouching down in front of him.

“Would you like to meet him, Louis?” his mother asked, and Louis nodded, his eyes going wide.

“Alright,” she said, “Hold out your arms.”

Louis did, and his mother instructed him on hold to hold the newborn securely, with his arms taunt and his palms open, and then the little body was placed into his arms.

He looked down, carefully trying to catalogue every detail. The baby was swaddled in a soft fur, with only his face peeking out. It was so small, bright pink and scrunched tightly, his eyes not even open. The baby whimpered and when he cried, he sounded more like an injured bird than the howl of an alpha wolf. Louis frowned a bit as he held the baby, then looked up, confused.

“How is he supposed to be the alpha?” Louis asked, “He’s so small.”

Alpha Styles chuckled, which only made Louis more confused. The pack alpha stood up and came over, putting a hand on Louis’s head and musing his hair.

“He will grow into the part, I’m sure,” the alpha said, “Just like you will grow into yours.”

Louis just nodded, not fully understanding. Of course he knew each and every one of them had a role in the pack, that was how it stayed strong. But he did not know what his would be just yet, even if Alpha Styles smiled at him like he knew more than Louis did.

“May I have him for a moment, Louis?” Alpha Styles asked, and Louis wordlessly let the much bigger alpha take him, the baby looking even smaller in his big, strong arms. The alpha surveyed those in the tent and then nodded towards the tent opening, smiling wider.

“Let’s introduce him to the pack,” he said.

Louis watched the man as he lifted himself to his full height, holding the small body in his arms so easily. Johannah came back over and lifted Louis up and settled him on her hip, falling in line with the others as they went to talk outside. Omega Styles stayed in the tent, her nurse maids pressing towels to her face to soothe her after the labor. Alpha Styles came back to give her a kiss on the head before he returned to the mouth of the tent.

Outside, Louis could hear the tin of rising voices and footsteps, the curiosity of the crowd beginning as the sun rose. Louis wriggled in his mother’s arms at the noise, and she soothed him, stroking his head as they walked to the opening, out into the sun.

The whole pack was gathered in front of the tent, and they all lifted their heads in excitement as Louis’s family left the tent, a sure sign the current alpha and his heir were right behind them. They craned their necks and whispered and spoke eagerly, trying to catch an early glimpse of the new pup in their pack, the most important one of all.

Soon, the tent opening parted again, and Alpha Styles stepped out, the crowd cheering loud enough to make the baby wail. But the alpha of the pack just chuckled and held his son tightly in both hands, before lifting him up over his head, showing the pup for all to see.

When he spoke, his voice sounded like an oak falling in the midst of the forest, loud and not easily forgotten.

“This is Harry,” he said, “And one day he will lead all of you.”

**

“Louis, let me catch up!”

Louis laughed as he raced through the trees, his small, callous-covered feet letting him leap and sprint easily over the soft earth in the forest. He looked over his shoulder, laughing as he saw Harry running behind him, struggling to close the distance between them.

Harry was four years old now, with a head full of sun-bleached blond curls and skin that was always deeply tanned from the sun. His eyes were big and the color of the forest canopy in summer, with just as much golden light in them.

But he was also younger than Louis, and those two years felt like an eternity between them. Two years was too big a fraction of each of their lives to ignore, after all. He was the pack alpha’s heir, but Louis could run faster, jump higher, wrestle better. He knew more spots in the forest to hide during hide and seek, places that would conceal his pale caramel brown fur perfectly but would make Harry’s pure black coat stick out like a bruised toe when he tried to copy Louis.

Today they had chosen tag as their game, and while Louis could run quickly through the trees, shifting in and out of four furry legs to two sleek ones, Harry struggled to catch up on his pudgy, short legs, and he had to stop fully and concentrate to shift, giving Louis far more time to run ahead. By the third time Harry had shifted, Louis had managed to scale half-way up a small tree, something Harry had yet to figure out how to copy. When the little black wolf skittered in front of the tree, he shoved his paws down, tripping up as he tried to gain traction.

“Hey!” Harry shouted, as soon as his human form was back, “You can’t do that!”

“More like _you_ can’t do this,” Louis taunted, swinging his legs over the branch. Harry always tried to follow Louis up the trees in the forest, and had never managed to get higher than the lower branch without falling out and getting a big scratch somewhere on his body.

“It’s not fair!” Harry whined, plopping down heavily on the ground and pouting, “You already beat me from just running.”

“Maybe one day when you’re not a baby you can beat me,” Louis said, making Harry frown so hard his entire face crumpled up.

“I am not a baby,” Harry said firmly, “I’m _four_.”

“Oh, fine,” Louis rolled his eyes and then jumped down, smoothly landing on the ground, “Let’s race back to the river. I’ll give you a head start and everything.”

Harry’s eyes lit up, and he nodded quickly before turning to sprint back the way they had come.

Louis gave him about five seconds before he shifted, and then he was running easily through the forest, passing Harry in a few minutes. The younger boy shouted loudly behind him, and as the river came into view, Louis shifted, tumbling along the earth and laughing as Harry caught up to him, his chubby face red.

“You cheated again,” he insisted.

“Shifting isn’t cheating,” Louis argued back.

“It is when I can’t!” Harry said, his voice growing high.

“Maybe you should learn!” Louis shouted back.

Laughter rose over the bubbling over the stream, and Louis looked over to see both of their mothers posted by the side of the river, watching them.

“Pups,” Johannah called, “Come here, silly boys. Come sit with us.”

“Mama, we’re playing,” Louis whined.

“I know that, and I think poor Harry deserves a break from your games,” she said firmly, curling her fingers to signal him to come over, “Let me fix your hair, little luna, your hair is all filthy.”

“Fine,” Louis pouted, and dragged himself over to the riverbed, while Harry trotted to his own mother, looking far too pleased with himself.

“Hi, Momma,” he said earnestly as he wriggled into Anne’s lap, kissing her cheek. She smiled, her eyes bright as she gave him a hug and then positioned him in her lap, her thick necklace swinging as she did so.

“Hello, my darling,” she said, “Did you and Louis have fun?”

“A little,” Harry said, and then pouted, shooting Louis a look, “Until Louis broke the rules.”

“I did not,” Louis insisted, crossing his arms, “We never said climbing trees is against the rules.”

“Well, it’s mean,” Harry insisted, “Momma, tell Louis it’s mean.”

Anne and Johannah exchange a look and a smile, and Johannah sighed, picking up her carved comb to pull it through Louis’s long, tangled hair.

“Luna,” she said gently, “You know Harry can’t climb trees. Why did you do it, then?”

“So I could win,” Louis said flatly, which made Anne roar with laughter and Johannah giggle as she combed her son’s hair.

“Momma!” Harry gasped, his eyes going wide, “Not funny!”

“I’m sorry, my love,” she said, her voice still bubbling with laughter as she looked at Johannah, “My, what a boy you have, Jay.”

“I know,” Johannah said, her voice soft as she kissed Louis’s cheek, ignoring his annoyed grimace, “They’ll give each other such trouble when they’re old enough.”

“Oh, moon help this pack,” Anne smiled, “And I thought Desmond and I kept this pack up late with our bickering when we were first mated. Wait until this poor pack has to listen to these two.”

Louis frowned, the older omega’s words confusing him.

“Why would it matter what you and Alpha Styles did when you were mated?” he asked, “What’s that got to do with me and Harry?”

Anne paused, her mouth pursing a bit, and she looked at Johannah a bit apologetically. The other omega just sighed and pet Louis’s hair, pulling her fingers through the less-tangled lengths.

“Well. You and Harry are going to be mated one day, little pup,” Jay gently said. Louis frowned, and then looked over at Harry, who looked equally confused.

“We are?” Louis said.

“Yes,” Jay nodded, “That was decided a long time ago. The day you were born, in fact.”

“But Harry wasn’t born yet then,” Louis protested.

“I know,” Jay said, “But for years and years, the pack alpha has had another first born alpha to carry on their legacy. And so the first born omega from the second highest family at the time always becomes the next pack omega in turn.”

“My father had your family’s position when I was a child,” Anne said, “So I was promised to Harry’s father. And Harry’s grandmother had the same thing done to her.”

She touched her necklace, thick with heavy stones and beads, the sign of the pack omega.

“One day you will take my place, when Harry’s father returns to the forest,” Anne said, “Although we can hope that will not be for a long, long time.”

Louis frowned, looking between Harry and their mothers.

“But I don’t want to mate Harry,” Louis said, “We’re friends.”

“Best friends,” Harry butted in.

“Best friends make the best kinds of mates,” Jay smiled, “Your father and I are best friends.”

“But – “ Louis protested, and Jay sighed.

“Louis, darling, it’s done already,” Jay said, her voice gentle as always but steely firm, “You are meant to be the pack omega, and that means you will belong to Harry one day.”

She kissed the top of his head and squeezed his shoulder.

“Your hair is all neat now,” she said, “You boys can keep playing now, just be back at camp before the hunt goes out for dinner.”

He looked back at her, his mouth popping open to ask more questions, but Jay pushed his shoulder a bit.

“Go on.”

Louis got to his feet, trudging back into the trees, with Harry close behind him. The boy’s steps were still clumsy, but Louis was walking slow, so at least Harry could follow next to him.

After a few paces, once they were safely in the thicket of the trees and away from their mothers’ listening ears, Louis plopped onto the ground, sniffling.

“Why do I have to be the pack omega?” he whined, “I didn’t want to be that.”

“Why not?” Harry asked, coming to sit next to him, “My momma does really neat things. She helps make all our clothes, and makes sure everything has their medicine and food. And she tells good stories.”

“But I wanted to hunt,” Louis huffed, “Hunting is better than stupid clothes.”

“Omegas can’t hunt anyways,” Harry frowned, “My father told me that.”

“I wanted to be the first one, though,” Louis insisted, “I was gonna wait until I was bigger and show Alpha Styles I could do it.”

Louis drew his knees close to his chest and buried his head in his bruised legs. Harry’s small hand patted him on the shoulder, and the other child’s voice came a moment later.

“It’s okay, Louis,” Harry said, “I’ll be really nice to you when we’re mated.”

Louis looked up, giving him a long look.

“I’ll bring you flowers, like my father brings Momma,” Harry continued, “And if you can’t hunt, I’ll give you the first piece of the hunt every night.”

His eyes lit up, and he sit up ram rod straight.

“And kisses!” Harry said, “Father and Momma kiss a lot.”

“Kissing is gross,” Louis said flatly.

“I think you like it when you get bigger,” Harry said, his brows furrowing in thought. A moment later his face lit up again, “Maybe we can try now!”

“Ew,” Louis said, standing up quickly, “ _No_.”

“Real quick!” Harry insisted, standing up too, “Can we try if I beat you in the next race?”

“Sure we can,” Louis said, rolling his eyes.

“Okay!” Harry said brightly, and then immediately took off ahead of him.

Louis shook his head, sprinting off after him.

In seconds, he was running ahead of Harry, and the toddler behind him squawked in annoyance. Louis could hear his footsteps trip up in the pine needles behind him.

“Heyyy,” he yelled, “I was supposed to win that one!”

“Too bad!” Louis shouted, “Catch up!”

He kept running, his last few thoughts quickly forgotten. All that was left was Harry fumbling behind him, the summer breeze in his hair, the sun golden and bright above his head, making all the shadows flee to the corners of the earth.

**

“Careful,” Louis’s grandmother hissed, grabbing his wrist, “You are tearing the fabric again.”

Louis huffed, blowing a breath upward to try to get his increasingly long hair out of his face as he stared at the long needle in his lap, along with the yard of fabric. His Grandmama had spent a full week at her loom making the fabric, and Louis had ripped some impressive holes in it trying to add some not so impressive embroidery. He had also lashed up his fingers, leaving all of them sore and bandaged.

He moved the fabric out of his lap and looked at his grandmother, who was looking at him with equal parts love and disappointment.

“Grandmama, I want to stop,” he said.

“We can stop for today, little one, if that’s what you want,” she said.

“No, I want to stop doing all of this,” Louis whined, “I can’t sew. Can’t we just have a pack omega who can’t sew?”

“I suppose,” she sighed heavily, “If your alpha chooses a pack beta whose mate has steady hands and can do it for you.”

Louis frowned as she took the fabric away, laying it down in your own pile of work. He knew she would find a way to magically fix all his mistakes, making the designs look smooth and beautiful once more. Maybe she would even lie and tell everyone else that he had done them, like she had done before. Saved his family the quiet embarrassment of having an omega son who could not grasp anything he needed to.

“Grandmama, I think I shouldn’t be pack omega when I’m bigger,” he said cautiously. The older woman whipped her head up quickly, fixing him with a hard stare.

“Why would you say a thing like that?”

“I’m not good at it,” Louis sighed, “I’m not good at anything, except running. But I can’t even hunt, so that’s the point?”

“Don’t remind me about your hunting,” she huffed, “It’s not right.”

“But I want that!”

Once again, he was caught with a withering stare.

“You be careful with things like that,” she said, “The deep woods are no place for an omega.”

Louis looked down, glaring at the pile of fabric in the corner.

“Neither is anything here,” he mumbled.

His grandmother glared again, and looked like she was ready to rip into him again, when the tent flap parted and Louis’s mother poked her head in. She looked between the two of them and her eyes flashed knowingly as she shook her head.

“Mom,” she sighed, “Let Louis have the afternoon to himself. He’s practiced enough.”

Louis’s grandmother bobbed her head, rubbing her forehead with one wrinkled hand while she waved the other at Louis, dismissing him.

“Alright,” she said, “Go on.”

Louis grinned and turned back to his mother, who gave him a gentle smile as she readjusted the basket on her hip.

“Go find Harry,” she suggested, “I believe he and his father just got done talking.”

These days, Harry’s father called Harry alone most days, usually when Louis was in his own sessions. As soon as they saw each other again, Harry would spill every bit to Louis, all the secrets and guidance his father was giving him to lead the pack one day. He always looked so proud when he said it, puffing up his seven-year-old chest and straightening his shoulders, until Louis shoved him and called him a shrimp and they spent the rest of the afternoon squawking at each other and wrestling.

When Louis emerged from his own tent, he saw Harry sitting, waiting patiently for him at the edge of the pack alpha’s tent. He smiled when he saw Louis, and he climbed to his feet, the deep colored curls that fell to his shoulder bouncing as he stood.

“Louis!” he called, “Let’s go to the woods.”

“We always go to the woods, shrimp,” Louis said, and Harry wrinkled his nose at the name but quickly became serious again.

“No, _the edge of the woods_ ,” he said, making the last state a whisper, “Uncle Nigel is coming back soon for the fall, and he’s preparing all sorts of things. I want to go see what he’s doing.”

Louis shuddered a little at the mention of Harry’s uncle. Nigel was Desmond’s younger brother, and was usually spoken of more than he was seen. Louis had heard the story about Harry’s father and his uncle a thousand times; it was a favorite among the pack children, although they all fell quiet when Harry was close enough to hear. 

The two alphas, when they were young, had been trapped in a forest fire, and while Desmond had run quickly and swiftly enough out of the flames, Nigel had gotten into the ugly end of things, and half his body had succumbed to the flames. Half of his body was still twisted in scarred, patch work skin, his face mangled, his right eye gone, his arm and leg crippled and limp as he managed to get by with a thick wooden cane. Desmond had told them stories of Nigel as one of the pack’s most hopeful young hunters, but ever since, he had served as a healer, kneading medicines with his one strong hand and healing the bodies of the pack in a way his own body would never be fixed. He spent half the season at the edge of the forest, in a dry, shallow cave he had grown to call his own, and moved back to the pack for the cold winter months, so he could enjoy the warmth of the packs’ tents and the pack could seek his medicine for the wave of winter sickness.

Louis knew it was rude to think, but he hated when Nigel returned to the pack. His body was misshapen, and he was always told not to stare. It wasn’t his fault, after all, that a tree had fallen on his legs, trapping him, while Desmond had managed to get away. But it was more than that. Nigel’s voice was a low, harsh rumble, like he had never exhaled the forest fire smoke from his lungs. And his one good eye was still cold and barely gave away any feeling, making it hard to decide whether to look at his good side of the blackened socket on the other.

Harry loved his uncle, Louis knew this. He was sure Harry had the brightness of the sun trapped in his chest, as if a bad thought had never crossed his mind. But Louis hated it when Harry dragged him out for an out-of-season visit to the cave, subjecting Louis to Nigel’s cold, mismatched gaze for another additional afternoon.

“Uncle Nigel gets lonely,” Harry said as they plodded through the trees, chasing the shadows and late afternoon sunshine as they went, “He tells me that sometimes. It’ll be good to him.”

“Yeah,” Louis agreed passively. He flicked his eyes to the river, straying a bit towards the muddy banks, “You want to go swimming instead?”

“Louis,” Harry whined, “We can’t let it get too dark. It’ll be too hard to go home.”

“Okay,” Louis agreed reluctantly, falling next to Harry, “What did you and your dad talk about today?”

Harry’s face lit up at the question, his hands lifting to move rapidly.

“Oh, so much!” he said, “He told me about the hunting seasons, and how to pick a pack beta, and how to form a council, and – “

Louis smiled to himself as he listened to Harry chatter, his voice flowing in and out easily they plodded through the trees, Harry’s words matching the rhythm of the river next to them.

It was only when the sound of the river started to die that Harry’s voice softened too. They were in the dry part of the forest, where the tree cover never grew as well, the trunks around them twisted and scarred by long-ago diseases. The grass under their feet was brown and sharp despite the summer growth in the rest of the wood. Harry looked at Louis, his lips twitching a bit as the water fully grew silent behind them.

“Quiet,” he murmured, “Uncle might have one of his headaches.”

Louis nodded. He was familiar with the warnings by now.

The mouth of Nigel’s cave rose up ahead of them, and Harry approached carefully, walking ahead of Louis. For once, Louis let him lead as he craned his neck to gaze into the cave.

“Uncle?” he called gently, and a moment later, he was greeted by a plume of smoke shaped with words.

“Hello, pup,” Nigel said, and then, “I see you brought your friend.”

Louis tried to keep his shoulders straight to keep the shudder out of his body. Somehow, even when he tried to keep himself out of the way, Nigel always knew when he was there. He wouldn’t be surprised if he couldn’t see things from miles away.

With careful steps, Louis came to stand next to Harry, getting a clear look at the older wolf in the cave. Logically, he knew Nigel wasn’t very old, but he looked frail in the cave, his shoulders hunched, his body grown meek from isolation and his skin pale and fed on shadows. His back and chest were bare that day, showing the full spectrum of his scarred body. His limp arm was settled in his lap, unmoving except for the ticking twitch of his two working fingers. In his other hand he had a long-used pestle, and balanced in his uneven knees was a matching mortar filled with a deep yellow powder.

He fixed Louis with his good eye, and Louis did his best to smile.

“Hello, Nigel,” he offered, and the good side of Nigel’s mouth twitched up to smile, too. Louis was at least grateful he wasn’t showing his teeth, so Louis didn’t have to see the collapsed inside of his lips.

“What brings you pups out today?” he asked, his wrist twisting as he spoke, the powder growing finer in his mortar.

“You said you had something to show me,” Harry said.

“Did I?” Nigel said, his working brow lifting, “And when did I say that?”

His voice sounded like he was trying to tease, but the roughness of his voice made it seem like the opposite of anything friendly.

“When I last visited you,” Harry said, his voice growing to more of a whine, “A week ago.”

“Ah,” Nigel said, “Yes.”

He turned to Louis, his gaze unwavering.

“Are you boys brave enough to go see?”

“Yes,” Harry said immediately, “We want to see.”

Louis swallowed weakly and nodded along, even though his stomach twisted at this unnamed surprise. He wasn’t about to be the one that made Harry turn away from something that made his face light up like that.

“Well then,” Nigel said, “Let’s take a little walk.”

With his good arm, he wrapped his twisted cane from his side, and with a few tries, hefted himself to his feet. His burned and twisted leg dragged behind him, but his good leg was thick with muscle and led him as he pulled himself out of the cave. Harry and Louis fell in step behind him as the alpha walked out into the dryness of the forest.

They ventured further into the bone-dry trees, the sun growing hotter and brighter above them as the leaves grew withered and few. Louis didn’t recognize this part of the woods; the rocks were nearly white, the riverbed was dry as a thirsty throat. The grass felt like it would slice up his feet.

“Just a little longer,” Nigel said, a rasp of a chuckle in his voice clear as he spoke, “Unless you’d like to turn back.”

“No way,” Harry insisted, and Nigel’s chuckle grew louder.

“Whatever you say, little prince,” he nodded, and plodded on.

Louis hung by Harry’s side, trying not to give away just how much his stomach was twisted up, how much he wanted to turn around and run back to the safety of camp. There was something not right about the bareness of the forest, stripped of everything good and full of life.

“Here we are,” Nigel said eventually, and stopped so suddenly Harry nearly tripped trying to pause in turn.

Louis caught him, his own feet scuffing on the fine, dry dirt. His eyes widened as he looked ahead, and then he looked up at Nigel, trying to gauge the alpha’s face. But even his unburned side gave away nothing.

“What is that?” Louis asked softly, and Nigel’s mouth twisted in amusement at the question.

“That _was_ a bear,” he said.

Louis blinked and looked back at the earth. It was an array of bones, scattered in the shape of a whole body. There was a massive ribcage, huge and arching out of the earth, multiple small bones that built into the shape of powerful paws and claws, and a big skull, full of massive teeth.

The shape of it made Louis shake. He knew about the bears, of course. They shared the forest, same as the wolves. But they were to be avoided, and not to be fought, at any costs. Louis had never even seen one in person, only heard stories that were meant to frighten him enough to never stray too far. But the size of the skeleton in the ravine, and the sharpness of its claws and teeth, made him feel weaker than a campfire story could ever invoke.

“What happened?” Harry asked, his own voice quivering.

“She came down with something,” Nigel said, “Something got in her paw, infected it, poisoned her blood.”

Louis suddenly felt cold, even under the summer sun, Nigel’s voice and words chilling him down to the core.

“She rotted into the Earth,” Nigel said, “And now this is all that is left of her.”

Louis grabbed onto Harry’s hand, hoping Nigel would not see.

“Why – “ Harry managed, “Why did you want to show me this, Uncle?”

“Because,” Nigel said, “The forest will take as it pleases. None of us will escape that, no matter what.”

Nigel turned, fixing both of them with his dark gaze.

“It is best you learn that now.”

He grew quiet, letting the two of them just stare at the dry, sun-bleached skeleton, once some fearsome and now nothing but a set of rocks for squirrels to claim over.

Louis felt Harry squeeze his hand.

After a moment, Nigel laughed, the dry wheeze of it shaking the air.

“Come on, then,” she said, “You two best be going home to your mothers. I’ll give you some of the dandelion paste Anne wanted for when you go.”

They quietly followed Nigel back to his cave, and Harry obediently collected the sack of powder after Nigel poured out his pestle for him.

“You come back and see your uncle again soon, pup,” Nigel said, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

“Yes, Uncle,” Harry said quietly, holding his bag to his chest and offering a small wave before they broke away, back towards the camp.

They did not speak, not after the river started bubbling again, not after the tree cover cast them in shadows again, not until the chatter and safety of the camp came into view, enough to chase away the memories of the dark at the edge of the forest.

**

In the midst of summer, in between hunting hours and when the sun was hot and high, the wrestling pit at the edge of the territory was always crowded. All the young alphas came out to the spot beyond the watchful eyes of the pack leaders to challenge each other, shifting between human and wolf as they grappled and tried to pin each other down. The omegas sat and watched, working on their clothing or jewelry projects or giggling and gazing on.

Louis had every interest in joining the pit rather than just watching passively with the other omegas, but only alphas were allowed in the fray. Harry managed to drag him out every time, even when Louis was upset with him.

Lately, he was upset a lot.

Harry was becoming a man, slowly but surely. Thirteen wasn’t old enough to grow fully into himself just yet, but he was taller, stronger, able to join the hunt under close watch. His sessions with Desmond grew longer and later, and Louis spent many afternoons alone or with the other omegas in the pack. He liked them just fine, but they weren’t Harry. They weren’t his best friend.

But he had trouble recognizing Harry some days. He emerged from his father’s tent with a knowing smile on his lips, and when Louis would ask what they talked about, he would merely smirk and go “it’s a secret” when he used to tell Louis every detail. The only thing he didn’t seem to have trouble sharing were the details of the hunts he got to go on, even when Louis glared at him and asked him to stop. Increasingly, his own days were full of learning to sew and which berries to pick and how to soothe babies, and his mother still had to pull him back when the call of the hunt when out.

Worse still was that he and Harry were getting older, old enough that the reminders about their promised mating loomed large and ever present on the horizon. Louis had had his first heat a full season past, trapped in his own small tent for long three days, and when he emerged Harry hadn’t even looked him in the eye for a whole day. They were still friends, but every time Louis was reminded they would one day become more, he had to turn away from Harry entirely.

He loved his pack, but the role they had given him felt tight and uncomfortable, like the winter he had grown too tall for his old coat.

He was irritated with Harry again after a week of the alpha talking Louis’s ear off about hunting and his new pack duties, but the summer day was hot and sticky and Louis had nothing better to do, so he had followed Harry to the pit.

He sat on the side and braided his hair, which had grown long, like every other wolf in the pack, and now hung past Louis’s shoulders. In the middle of the pit, Harry was wrestling another alpha his age, his own long hair tied up in a thick ball on the top of his head as he pinned the other boy. They were playing a shiftless round, the two going at it with human hands rather than claws and teeth. And still, Harry managed to stay on top, until finally his opponent was so tired he let Harry pin him firmly and long enough to declare victory.

Harry grinned and leapt to his feet as the referee of their game called out his name.

“I win!” Harry shouted, holding his arms up, “Again!”

The losing alpha on the ground spit weakly and looked up, glaring up at the other alpha.

“You always win,” he said, “That’s no fair.”

“It is if I’m the best,” Harry grinned, setting his hands on his hips.

Louis scoffed from the edges of the pit, picking up one of the dried flowers at his feet to weave into his hair. Harry glanced his way, frowning a bit.

“Something to say, Louis?” he asked, and Louis looked up.

“Nothing at all,” he said, smiling as he went back to his braiding.

Harry gave him a look, and then took a step forward.

“Well,” Harry said, “I think it’s only fair that the winner of the day gets to walk the prettiest omega home.”

Louis glared at him. Harry never talked like this with him unless they were in front of everyone else, and that bothered him even more.

“I can walk myself home,” Louis said sharply. He finished out his braid and then stood up, “Besides, how safe would I be with you? I beat you in wrestling every time.”

Harry’s eyes widened a bit at that, and a couple alphas behind him snickered. Louis smiled to himself as Harry looked over his shoulder and glared at them. Louis stepped over the rocks around the pit and then walked back towards the woods, lifting his chin high as he walked into the trees, cutting back to camp.

It was quiet amongst the forest, the only real sound the soft, gentle babble of the creek in the distance and the chirping birds above. Louis closed his eyes as he walked with his head up, his feet knowing the forest by heart.

But few minutes later, he heard jogging footsteps behind him, breaking the quiet, and he sighed.

“What, Harry?” he said flatly, not turning around.

“Louis,” Harry sighed, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Louis asked, still walking. Harry’s footsteps picked up behind him, and soon Harry was coming around to stand in front of the omega. Louis just huffed and walked around him.

“For…everything, I guess?” Harry said as he jogged to catch up with Louis, “Whatever you’re mad about.”

Louis laughed weakly, shaking his head.

“You’ve been insufferable lately,” Louis sighed.

“Me?”

“Yes, you!” Louis snapped, “Just because you’re going to be the pack alpha doesn’t make you better than anyone else.”

“Um,” Harry said, and cocked his head, “Yes, it does, Louis. That’s the point.”

Louis scoffed but kept walking forward, not turning around. He heard Harry groan softly behind him.

“And you can stop putting up a fight,” Harry said, “You’re still promised to me.”

Louis whirled around and shoved Harry hard. The alpha hit the hard dirt a few moments later, and he shook his head, his wild hair going everywhere as he stared up at Louis.

“What was that for?”

“You’re such a _fucking asshole_ , Harry!” Louis shouted.

The younger boy still stared up at him with big eyes, and Louis stamped his foot, grunting in frustration.

“I know I’m promised to you, everyone keeps reminding me!” Louis yelled, “But the very least you could do is make me _like_ you.”

Harry frowned.

“You don’t like me?”

“Not lately, I don’t!” Louis shouted, “You’re being _stupid_. A bad alpha.”

That made Harry glare at him, his eyes darkening a bit.

“Don’t call me a bad alpha,” Harry said.

“I’ll say whatever I want to you!” Louis snapped, “You’re a bad alpha, and you’re so fucking full of yourself, and you can’t lead a pack just because you can knock people to the ground – “

“Take that back!” Harry yelled.

“No!” Louis shouted, “You can’t tell me what to do! Not now, not ever!”

Harry grunted and tried to pull at him again, but Louis was strong, too, and he was able to hold the younger boy down. He pulled on Harry and weakly tried to scratch him with his nubby human nails. Harry groaned in frustration and pulled on Louis’s necklaces, hard, making the older boy cursed and yelped as he was brought down to the alpha’s level.

And then, suddenly, Harry’s lips were on his.

It lasted for only a second, but Louis felt years of his life flow through his body as it happened, every emotion he had ever had for Harry, good or bad, coming back to him. He felt the hairs on his neck and arms stand up, he felt his skin heat and his muscles tense. He would feel the spot in his shoulder, just under his scent gland on his mating side, pulse weakly at the feeling of Harry’s lips on his. He could smell Harry’s scent sharply now, like the richest pine needles and fresh, overturned soil and the sweet mud at the bottom of the river. And then he smelled all of it shift in an instance, like the forest turning from a delicate spring to a blistering summer.

But then it was over, Harry launching himself away and backing up, away from Louis. Louis fell knees-first onto the forest floor as Harry moved away from him, the other boy’s eyes wide. There were pine needles and sticks in his hair, his curls unruly and wild around his face.

Louis could barely breathe; not with Harry’s scent choking up his nostrils like this. He took a shaky breath out of his mouth as he looked at his best friend.

“Why – “ Louis choked, “Why did you do that?”

“I – “ Harry choked out. He didn’t seem to have an answer. He was already standing back up.

“Harry?” Louis asked weakly, but the alpha just shook his head.

“Louis, I’m sorry,” he said again. Louis opened his mouth to speak, but in a moment, Harry had shifted, his friend being replaced by a black wolf.

“Don’t you dare,” Louis got out, but Harry was already sprinting away, back towards the camp.

Louis cursed, kicking his dirt with his heels. He brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around legs, cursing again as he buried his face in his knees.

It was warm in the woods, and he could hear the river flowing in the distance and the birds chirping in the trees. Normally that would take away all his worries and fears, but right now, he just felt like there was a permanent rock in his stomach and half-extinguished fire on his lips.

**

Louis spent the evening in the forest. He skipped the pack dinner, knowing that his mother would keep some for him when he returned.

When he dragged himself back inside, his parents were in bed, but as expected, his dinner was on the table, wrapped in salt and with a small pile of ripe berries next to it.

His grandmother sat by the small circle and looked up at him, like she had been expecting him. In all honesty, she probably was. The woman could hear someone coming from the softest footsteps, could smell a storm in the breeze days ahead of time.

“Hi, Grandmama,” Louis said quietly as he knelt down to gathered up his dinner. He got hold of the berries in the grab on his skirt, but his grandmother caught his arm, making him look at her before he could do anything else.

“Your scent is different,” she said with a wry smile, her one blind eye flashing full moon bright in the dark, “You’ve kissed your alpha, haven’t you, pup?”

Louis squirmed, trying to pull away from the older woman.

“S’nothing, Grandmama,” he mumbled, but she just chuckled.

“You can’t fool me, child,” she said, “No harm in that, you know. That boy is a little wild but he’ll grow into his paws.”

Louis shook his head, and pulled away, hugging his body with one arm as he kept his dinner gathered in the fold of his skirt with the other hand. 

“I’m going to bed,” he mumbled, and then dragged his feet to his own corner of the tent. His grandmother smiled and reached out a wrinkled hand, touching his arm as he tried to walk away.

“You’ll grow into your part, too, you know,” she said.

He stiffened.

“I don’t want my part,” Louis said, “It’s bullshit.”

The older woman slapped his cheek, and he yelped loudly and held his face.

“Don’t talk like that to me,” she scolded, and then her face softened, “But you will find your place, child. Just wait.”

Louis’s lip quivered, and he shook his head.

“Whatever you say,” he said softly, and then turned and went back to the quiet corner of his tent, settling himself down with the food he no longer had an appetite for.

He curled up on himself and closed his eyes, falling asleep to the sound of his grandmother singing to an empty fire. 

**

As the leaves grew dark and the sun fell sooner in the day, Harry spoke to Louis less and less. Every day, in place of their usual long walks, Harry stayed in his family’s tent or with the other alphas, leaving Louis on his own most days. He tried to occupy his free thoughts by swimming in the river or climbing the trees at the edge of the territory, but it seemed like more and more there were pack elders around to tell him to come back to earth, stand up straight, find something acceptable for a pack omega to do. And through it all, the boy who was supposed to be Louis’s alpha was nowhere to be found.

The cold weather brought sickness to the pack, sniffling noses and dry throat, and Nigel was placed back in a separate tent at the edge of the pack to treat everyone. Louis would see Harry slip into his tent some days, and at the very least, he wanted to ask Harry what the hell he was talking about in there.

The season spiraled quickly, and with it more and more was piled onto Louis. His grandmother guided him with increasing frustration, nearly begging him to learn how to cook in the fire, fix up a ripped shawl, give a bottle to a nursing pup. He was alright at the last one, but he fell apart anywhere else, his head too full of teenaged questions and cravings for soil under his feet and sun in his hair.

His mother would give him long looks when he said he wasn’t feeling well, ask with a cautious voice if he was entirely alone during his heats, which always ended in at least one of them shouting. Omega Styles was coming around more, asking if Louis would ever want to come around for a talk. He knew eventually he could not ignore her questions, would have to take on the embarrassing task of letting her lecture him on everything he would need to know when he was mated to her son.

Louis saw Harry in flashes, polite exchanges when Harry said good morning or good night to him around the pack campfire. One day, he told Louis he looked lovely, and Louis couldn’t look at him for days, the words too strange coming from his best friend, but sparking a confusion in his belly he did not feel like decoding.

Autumn trudged on, and as the air grew cold, Louis’s skin was hot, prickling with frustrations he could not speak to anyone.

So on a darkening autumn night, when he poked his head out of his tent to check for coldness of the air outside, he frowned when he saw the outline of Harry’s body disappearing into the woods, flanked by his father and Nigel, who limped next to them steadily, cane in hand, shawl obscuring his uneven shoulders.

“Why is Harry out with Alpha and Nigel?” he asked, his voice a bit sharper than he had meant it. His mother looked up with a frown, her hands focused on cooking their dinner in the tent fire.

“Out?” she asked, “This late? There has already been a hunt. You must be mistaken, pup.”

“I’m not,” Louis sighed harder, “You think I would mistake Nigel for anyone else? He looks like a hornet’s nest after a bear gets into it.”

“Stop that,” Johannah snapped, her eyes growing harsh, “You can’t speak about alphas that way, I don’t care who they are.”

She gestured for him to come over, her face suggesting there was little choice in the matter.

“If the pack alpha is out, it is none of your business, anyhow,” she said, “Now. Come help me.”

Louis huffed but dragged himself over to the fire, picking up the mortar that his mother offered him.

They ate dinner in silence, his parents exchanged worried looks he choose to ignore before he trudged off to bed.

He planned to stay in the tent all day, silently protesting his usual duties, and when he woke up, he squeezed his eyes at the tin of voices outside. He blinked, groaning at the sound as he craned his neck. The rest of the tent was empty, and he pulled his blankets close to him, drawing himself slowly up. He crossed to the front of the tent, where his parents’ voices were clearer. And, amongst them, a smoke-filled voice that still made him shudder.

He pushed open the flap of the tent, and lifted his brows when he saw not just his family and Nigel outside, but a large circle of families, all of them still wrapped in their sleep furs, looking at Nigel with wide eyes.

“What’s going on?” Louis said, his voice snapping weakly. His father in front of him turned, and Louis fully expected annoyance, but instead, he just looked startled by his son’s appearance.

“Something has happened,” he said, and Louis frowned.

“What?”

“Best to see,” Nigel said, his voice a low rumble at the held tightly on his cane, leaning forward to look at Louis more clearly. Louis moved into his mother’s side on instinct.

Wordlessly, his mother pushed him forward as Nigel began to move, hobbling in the direction of the forest. The pack moved with him, all of them confused and wide-eyed as they followed him. Louis frowned, catching sight of Omega Styles, pale and alone as she walked ahead of them. He looked around as his mother continued to push on his back, forcing his feet to move.

“Where’s Alpha Styles?” he asked, “We don’t go to the woods together without Alpha Styles.”

Johannah shushed him firmly, her mouth a worried life, and a single strand of fear coiled in Louis’s belly.

“Mama?” he said softly, but his mother just smoothed a hand down his long hair and then grasped his shoulder, leading him into the fray as Nigel led them, Louis’s father close at his heels.

As they walked, Nigel’s voice unspooled with his wobbling steps, his cane hitting the dry autumn earth out of rhythm with his voice.

“Last night,” he said, “My brother wanted to take Harry out to talk under the stars, teach the boy a few things. He wanted me to come along, so we could speak as a family.”

The cane kept tapping, and the shadows curled over Nigel’s shoulder.

“I am sorry for what you will see today,”

He stopped suddenly, and Louis heard his father inhale sharply, Omega Styles cry out, a weak _thunk_ as she fell to her knees. The noise rippled over the crowd, other wolves catching onto whatever was in front of Nigel.

Louis surged forward, and his mother grabbed him and held him up, putting a protective hand over his eyes.

But not before Louis could catch an eyeful of his pack alpha, sprawled on the forest floor, his eyes pale and dead, his insides ripped open and lying in the dirt around him.

The pack was shouting, whimpering, a few of them turning to run at the sight, dragging their covered pups with them. But Louis’s father stood firm, his face staying firm despite the growing sadness in his eyes.

“Nigel,” Mark said tightly, “What’s happened?”

Nigel turned his head down. Louis could see the full length of his burn, as it wrapped around his face, curved over his head, left his ear a scarred mess, the hair on his head having no chance of growing back. His mouth, ever turned down, matched the other side, tight and doused in bitterness.

“A bear,” he replied.

“A bear?” Mark echoed, “Desmond knew how to fight a bear. Bears were afraid of _him_.”

“Harry,” Nigel said, so simply that it seemed to be an explanation on its own.

“I’m sorry?” Mark said.

“That child tried to challenge one of her cubs,” Nigel said, “She tried to attack him, but Desmond was there faster.”

“Oh, no,” Anne gasped, her voice ragged and weak.

“Protecting his pup,” Nigel nodded solemnly, closing his eye, “I – the bear made off with Harry, I’m afraid.”

“No,” Anne managed, “That can’t – Harry is smart. He wouldn’t fight a bear – “

“Well, he did,” Nigel snapped, his face twisting angrily. Anne blinked at him, and in an instant, Nigel’s face was recollected and he swallowed, looking down, “You’ll have to forgive me, Anne. I have lost today, as have you.”

Anne nodded, though her face was ghost white. She turned, stumbling into Johannah’s shoulder, and Johannah caught her, holding her tightly by the shoulders as she kept Louis close by her side in turn.

Mark watched them, and then swallowed and turned to Nigel.

“Nigel,” he said, “I know you did not ask for this, but with Desmond and Harry gone, you have the blood right to lead this pack now. Do you accept that?”

Nigel dipped his head forward, showing every whirled bump and twist on the bald side of his head.

“I think you should take that on, if anyone, Marcus,” Nigel said.

“My role is not to lead, but to serve the pack alpha,” Marcus said firmly, “And my family and I will assist you in any way we can.”

Louis’s sides widened, and he opened his mouth, but his mother squeezed his shoulder firmly, making his fall silent and just watch.

Nigel’s mouth twitched, and he lifted his head, offering a lopsided smile to the pack present.

“Well then,” he said, “I suppose that is how it will have to be.”

Louis squirmed under his mother’s steady hold as he looked at the alpha in front of him, with his twisted gaze and one unmoving side of his mouth, while his brother lay behind him, ripped to shreds, and the pack’s future heir was lost to the trees and the claws of a bear.

The sun rippled overhead, brightening the forest.

But Louis had never felt the air grow colder.


	2. Chapter 2

The river was dry again.

Louis wasn’t sure why he was surprised. It was summer again, and the river was always dry in summer. Maybe after a rain, the floor of the bank would be a bit damp, maybe a thin trickle of water running down the center. But there had not been rain all month; the earth outside the river was just as dry. He had to go deep into the woods, past their territory, into the thorn-filled thickets beyond to get any hope of water. He had learned to go thirsty, but there were still pups back home, and the elders, people that couldn’t afford to learn thirst as intimately as he had.

“Louis,” a voice called to him, and he straightened up, pulled his hand out of the dry river.

“Yeah?” he said. There was a small group with him, the last of them that cared to hunt this deep into the woods. Maya, one of the alphas that had stayed with the group the longest, tilted her head, making her black hair shift on her shoulder.

“I can hear rabbits in the thickets,” she said, “Should we go?”

“I guess,” Louis sighed, hauling himself out of the riverbed, his bare feet crunching on the parched earth and grass as he did.

“God, I’m so fucking sick of rabbit,” Angel, another alpha in their ragtag group, groaned.

“Shut the fuck up,” Maya huffed, “We all are.”

“Relax, both of you,” Louis sighed, pulling a hand up through his hair. His braid was quickly growing tangled, but the last thing he wanted was to stop and fix it, “Your shouting will scare away all the rabbits.”

“Oh, what a tragedy,” Angel said, and Maya promptly smacked him in the stomach.

“We’re getting what we can,” Louis said, “Maybe we’ll get deer tomorrow, you never know.”

Deer hadn’t been in the forest for ten years, but he would hope.

Angel crossed his arms and shrugged, looking at Louis carefully.

“Well,” he said, “You’re the boss, you tell us what to do.”

As much as Angel got on Louis’s nerves, there wasn’t the slightest bit of sarcasm in his voice. Louis _was_ in charge, and everyone knew that, from the wolves at home that had grown too fed up with the forest to hunt any longer, to the few that stuck around. Louis had been in charge of the hunt for almost a decade now, and he would’ve liked better circumstances to lead the hunt than a dying forest and a dwindling pack, but he was going to lead nonetheless.

“We’re getting those rabbits,” he said firmly, “And we’re going to complain as little as possible about it. Alright?”

The rest of the wolves – young, old, all crippled by hunger and thirst -- looked at him and eventually nodded. He dipped his head in turn, closing his eyes.

“Let’s go, then.”

xon

He turned, letting his body easily shift until he had four paws and a thick coat, and then he took off into the dry thickets, in chase of a meager prize.

**

“Alright, come on,” Louis said, “You all know the rules, littlest ones first.”

He was holding a fist full of six rabbits in his hand, and he held them high above the heads of the circle of pups around them. They whined, and looked up at him with big, dark eyes.

“Luna, we’re hungry,” one of them whined, and Louis smiled at the name. But just moving his lips made his head, deprived of food and water all afternoon, swim.

“Did you all get your water?” he said, voice firm, “Lily brought the jugs back, everyone can get some.”

“Yes, Louis,” another promised, and he nodded.

“Okay,” he said, “Good. Now, come on. Little ones eat first, come on.”

The smallest pups came forward, as they did every night. Most of them only two and three, and Louis offered them some of the rabbit, letting them shift so they could take it in their jaws and scurry off. He handed out the rabbits carefully, one by one, like the precious commodities they were, until all the pups were gone, enjoying their food. The rest of the pack would be served soon, and Louis sighed, wiping his hands against his legs as he set off in search of the rest of the hunting pack, making sure everything was being handed out properly. It was best to finish up before dark; if someone didn’t get enough to get, they could go fetch more food before night fell.

Before he could go and complete his rounds, a hand caught his arm, and he looked behind him to see his mother, looking at him with her long, firm gaze. There were thick grey streaks in her hair and wrinkles crowding her eyes, but she still had the same hard grip, her hand thickened and calloused by her hours at the sewing needle. Someone needed to take up what Louis’s grandmother had left behind two winters ago, when her usual winter cough had grown thick and harsh and then turned into eternal silence.

“Nigel wants to see you, my love,” Jay said, her voice soft.

“Now?” Louis sighed, his throat tightening, “I have to feed everyone, can’t it wait?”

“The Pack Alpha wants you, luna,” she said, her eyes growing wet, “No, it can’t.”

Louis swallowed weakly, and he dipped his head. This happened too often, and yet every time, he felt himself weak.

“Okay,” he said, “Can you – “

“I’ll make sure everyone gets what they need,” she said, “Just go, okay?”

She said it in a way that suggested it would be better if Louis would just run, but neither of them were that stupid. So Louis nodded, and then, with heavy feet, set off to the Alpha’s tent.

The structure had started to collapse in on itself, the designs that once decorated the outside fading, no one bothering to fix it up, least of all the alpha that lived inside. Louis stood outside the flaps for a little too long, just looking into the darkness inside, making out nothing.

“You wanted me?” he said flatly, and he heard that chuckle from inside, like a plume of ugly, blackened smoke.

“Yes, yes,” Nigel said, “Come inside.”

Louis did, parting the tent flap delicately, like it was poisonous, and then ducking his head inside. Even in the darkness he could see the shape of the Alpha, the years wearing on his already weak frame, making it nearly impossible for him to sit up straight. Instead, he sat in a twisted shape on the floor, nothing regal about him.

“Come closer, little flower,” Nigel coaxed, and his good arm lifting, beckoning, “Let me look at you.”

“I need to go,” Louis said firmly, “I have a whole pack I need to feed.”

“Just for a moment,” Nigel said. He moved, and the sliver of light let in by the tent flap make his face visible, flashes of scarred skin and weathered wrinkles.

“No,” Louis said firmly, even though his voice quaked as he said it.

Nigel narrowed his one good eye at Louis, and dropped his good arm so he could lean forward on his fist.

“You listen to me, you little brat,” he hissed, “You can act like you’re better than me just because you’re young and pretty, but you still belong to the pack alpha. You belong to me.”

Louis wanted to snap, to tell him to fuck off, that he was wrong, but the words stuck in his throat as a hard lump, unable to argue with what he was saying.

Nigel called him here a few times a week, wanting to look at him, to touch his face with a weathered hand, to remind Louis of the promise he had made to his pack that he kept trying to ignore.

“You know I’m right,” Nigel taunted, “Anne is lucky she already has a bond. I cannot break that, or she would be here in this tent now.”

Louis tried to keep his face neutral, even as his thoughts went to Anne, who had spent the last several years sleeping alone at the end of the pack, every day wearing heavier on her shoulders, her title meaningless and the necklace around her neck only making her neck hang lower.

“But you, little one…” Nigel continued, “You have no excuse, nowhere to run. Unless you’d like to be a little whore and find another mate, and you will not stay a moment longer in this pack if you do that.”

Louis swallowed down the lump in his throat.

He would never tell him the only person he had thought of in this pack worthy of mating was the one person he had fought off his whole life, and who had been dead for twelve years.

“Now,” Nigel said, “Come. Here.”

Louis ducked his gaze, and trudged towards the older alpha, until he was right in front of him.

“Lower,” Nigel said, and Louis’s treacherous knees lowered him down, until he had a knee in the dirt in from of the alpha.

Quickly, Nigel grabbed his face, and Louis squirmed as Nigel squashed his cheeks in his strong, calloused fingers. He forced Louis’s chin up, making him look at the mangled face in front of him, that sour, uneven smile.

“Pretty, pretty,” Nigel said, his tongue clicking his burnt mouth, “You took off your hunting duties two weeks ago. I know it was for your heat. I could smell it across camp.”

Louis squirmed harder, pulling against the alpha’s grip.

“Please stop,” he managed. 

“What’s wrong?” Nigel chuckled again, “What’s the little brat got to say now?”

Louis grunted in frustration and grabbed Nigel’s hand, pulling hard enough to get the alpha to release his face. He stumbled back, and then shakily pulled himself to his feet, retreating to the mouth of the tent.

“Stupid bitch,” Nigel hissed out, and then narrowed his one eye at Louis, “You know, I’ve been too soft with you, letting you run around in the woods making a fool of yourself all these years.”

“I am the only reason anyone here is still alive,” Louis snapped, “Including you.”

“Well I have waited too long for you, and I am getting tired of it,” Nigel snapped, ignoring what Louis had just said. “I am giving you until the winter. I’d like a nice, warm body next to me when the snow comes.”

Louis’s stomach curdled at the thought, and he had to turn away, covering his face with his hand.

“You say that every year,” he said weakly.

“But this time I mean it,” Nigel said, “You’re getting old, flower.”

“I’m _twenty-seven_ ,” Louis snapped.

“And how much longer do you think you will have until you cannot hold a pup anymore?” Nigel said, “This pack needs an heir again, and it won’t be my fault if we do not have one because you decided to dig your heels in the ground for so long.”

Louis opened his mouth to speak. He wanted to snap, to ask Nigel if his dick even still worked or if that had been burnt off, too. But he didn’t have the strength. His body felt weak from his long hunt and the lack of nourishment in his bones. And he would still have to help rub the soreness out of his mother’s hands, stay up for night patrol with his father, visit Anne and kiss her forehead and talk to her for a little while so she could converse with someone that was not the memory of her alpha and her son.

The weight of it all was too heavy, and the words died in Louis’s chest along with the rest of his strength.

“Do you need anything else from me?” he asked eventually, his voice embarrassingly weak.

Nigel scoffed.

“Not for now,” he said, “But remember. I think I saw the first orange leaf in the forest yesterday. Winter will be here soon.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Louis spit out, his head swimming again. Then he stumbled out, back into camp.

He took a moment to stand outside and collect himself, wrapping his arms tightly around his middle. It was just a few seconds to breathe in, making his heart rate calm down, telling himself he could not afford to regret what he had just said.

After a long moment, he lifted his chin back up. And moved his sore feet back into camp.

He still had a pack to feed. 

**

Louis hunted every day, at least three times a day. After night patrol, he had a few hours of sleep, and then it was the hunt for breakfast and a long search for water. Afterwards, a few hours with his mother where they patched up the ripped clothes the pack brought them, the fabric growing ever-thinner between their hands, particularly in Louis’s still-incapable hands. Then a hunt for lunch and a meeting with their pack healers, who were trying to heal coughs and cuts without the help of the medicine Nigel used to make. In twelve years, he had never told anyone how to make his brews, and he was certainly not going to tell anyone now that he believed it was below his station. After that, he went to the nursing tent, with the mothers expecting children or who had just given birth. When he was a child, the tent was full at all times with shrill cries and swollen bellies, now they were lucky to have two omegas there in one season.

Louis didn’t like to think about the small stones that marked dozens of lives out in the forest. But they followed him every day in the form of empty tents and eerie silence, coughing where there had once been singing. The teenage alphas did not wrestle in the pit anymore, their bones having grown too weak and frail. Every year there were too many souls fleeing back to the earth, and barely enough pups to replace them.

The pack was dying, and Louis felt helpless to stop it all. He had the entire pack on his back, and yet it was still falling to pieces around him.

He was still an omega, and not even the pack omega. Just an omega too stubborn to take his place. No one would give him what he needed to do anything that would do more than let them get by.

As he sat in the cold darkness next to his father one night, looking out into the trees for danger, as if the real danger for them all wasn’t sickness and drought, he thought about it all, how tired he was, how much his body hurt, how nothing was changing.

“Louis,” his father said, his voice sounding so far away, “You are going to have to mate Nigel. The pack council has already decided.”

Right. The pack council. Which they still had, and which was doing nothing, except apparently making decision on Louis’s behalf.

Louis was so tired.

“When?” he asked.

“Next week,” Mark said. His voice sounded like he was gearing up for an apology, but it never came, “We can have a nice ceremony for you. Your mother can find some flowers; you can wear her ceremony dress. She still has it.”

“Okay,” Louis said, his throat desert dry.

They said nothing else, even though Louis desperately wanted to scream. They just finished their watch, and when the sun broke, they trudged back to the tent. Mark laid down heavily next to Jay, but Louis stayed awake, sitting on his mat while his parents slept, the hours he was allowed to sleep slipping away rapidly.

The colder days were closing in, and with it, the food supply was waning, as was the fresh water in the creeks far-away. They were entering their lean season, and this was going to be nearly bare bones as they tried to get by day to day on the few animals left in the forest, with a team of rag tag hunters.

Louis had done his best to lead them for the last few years, but he had been on thin ice with Nigel, going under the cover of night and only daring to return with a dinner so the pack alpha would not be able to complain.

But Louis was out of bargaining chips the same way the pack was nearly out of supplies. He could not wriggle his way out of this like he had every other season since he had turned eighteen.

He would have to mate Nigel.

He had barely even finished the last thought before he was getting up, moving smoothly in the dark as he searched through the tent, packing up the small satchel he usually only took on long hunting trips. There was barely any room inside, but he was able to wrap up some precious dried strips of meat and some berries. He filled up his waterskin, trying to leave enough for his parents, to not take too much.

He was taking so much already.

After the bag was packed, Louis sat down by the smoldering remains of their fire and got out a piece of paper and one of the lead pencils his mother kept in her private pack. She had hidden them for years and eventually shared them with him. She had told him that she was giving them to him so he could write down their history, their struggles, their hopes.

He could only hope that now, he was not writing down their destruction.

The words came out shaky, his fingers quivering with nerves and weakness.

_Mama, Papa, I love you. I will be home when the river runs again, I promise. Luna._

He folded it up before he could think to write more, and left it in his mother’s usual spot by the fire. Then he stood and soundlessly, with the silence of a hunter, slipped out of the tent and made for the trees.

His father had taught him to navigate the forest a long time ago, when he figured out Louis couldn’t be held in the tent all day. He had told him the safest parts, where the trees were sparing enough to not be confusing, and the river was a constantly bubbling guide. He pointed to the parts where the bears lived, and where the thorns grew, and where the river turned dry, all the places it would be best not to venture.

But he had also pointed the opposite direction, and told Louis that far enough outside the forest, there were paved roads and houses with proper floors and windows, human villages that could be the most dangerous of all.

Now, as Louis stood in the darkness, the bare trees above him as distinct as a series of thumbprints, the most treacherous part of the forest sounded like the best place to go.

**

Three days after he had left the pack, Louis wandered out of the trees for the first time in his life.

He was shivering, and his toes were turning purple and the bottoms of his feet were sore and lashed up from sticks and thorns. He had been walking for a couple days, his waterskin nearly empty and his food supply down to bare bones. He was hunting a bit in the evening, and he had found a few small creeks where the water looked easy enough to disinfect, but it was slow going.

Then, eventually, the trees had gone from thick and reckless to thin and organized, and a few miles later, he had stepped out of the tree cover.

It took him a moment to realize he was no longer in the woods, like his body would not allow him to register the biggest change in his life. He lifted his sore neck up to the sky, completely uncovered above him. It was pale blue, still early in the morning, and a pair of birds sailed over head, calling to each other.

Louis watched up, and then surveyed the long road. It was slick and black, hard to the touch as his feet crossed over it. He had never seen a human made road before, but he recognized it, the touch of something made by something more than hand. He took a few steps forward, towards a large wooden sign that rose up ahead of him, the letters become clearer the closer he came.

_Welcome to Canyon Moon: Where People Are Treated with Kindness. Population 436._

Louis frowned, blinking at the sign. He knew how to read, his mother had taught him when he was young, it had just been so long since he had gotten his hands on something worth reading it took a moment for the words to gel in his head. But when it registered, he decided it seemed safe enough. Small, friendly, a good place to at least take a little pause.

He shuffled onto the road, past the sign. There was nothing in sight yet, just a long strip of road cut between the trees. Louis wrapped his arms around himself, trying to pull his shawl closer as he walked.

He didn’t make it far before a loud sound came behind him, shrill and enough to make him jump and then winced at the soreness of his feet. He turned, his eyes widening as he did so.

His brain conjured up a word he remembered from an old human storybook his mother had shown him, full of softened pages and faded pictures of things he thought he would never see.

 _Car_ , his mind provided as he stared at the metal thing on the road.

It was white, with a large blaring white light on the touch, which flashed brightly at him. The shrillness coming from the car turned quiet, and then the light shut off, too. The side door opened, and Louis ducked his head, his knees bracing to run.

A woman climbed out of the car, dressed in a sand-colored shirt and pants, a wide hat on her head. She looked at Louis for a long moment, and then smiled.

“Hi, love,” the woman said, “Need some help?”

“Oh,” Louis managed, taken back by her soft voice. He had never met a full human, but the hunter in him could still tell the difference between what to chase, what to run from, and what meant no harm at all.

“I’m alright,” he managed to reply.

The woman’s smile twitched a little, looking closer to a frown, and she came forward, making Louis’s eyes widen. He stepped back in turn, and she stopped immediately, holding her hands up, palms out.

“I’m not gonna hurt you, honey,” she said, “Did you come from the woods?”

Louis’s eyes widened, and he looked into the trees and back at her. She just looked back at him with that same long gaze, her smile gentle.

“It’s fine if you are, you know. We know you all are out there, we just leave you all be,” she said, “But you look like you could use a hot shower and a good meal.”

The words came to him slowly, and he was unsure what to do with them. The fact she had so casually told him that the humans knew they were there, that they meant no harm, that this woman was offering something to ease the chill in his bones and the ache in his stomach.

Louis kept looking at her, debating what to do. This was a stranger, and a human one at that. He could very well just turn and run, back into the woods, or away from the town entirely.

But he had come here to get help he couldn’t get out in the woods. To have a new life, and to have protection.

“Um,” Louis said eventually “Yes, I could use that.”

The woman nodded, her smile back, and she held out a hand to gesture to him.

“Come here, then, let me take you into town,” she said, “The roads are a nightmare to walk, and it’s getting a little chilly.”

Louis took a step forward, then, towards the woman, the strange thing that he vaguely remembered was called a car. He noticed the woman glance over his body, probably at his frozen feet, his small frame formed from a decade of hunger. She opened one of the doors for him and helped him inside, giving him a moment to look at the interior, full of dark, shiny things, before she got in herself.

“What’s your name, hun?” she asked as she turned something next to the steering wheel that made the car jump to life. Louis started at the noise, and then settled, his tongue moving to answer her question.

“Louis,” he said softly.

“That’s a pretty name,” she smiled, “Well, I’m Sheriff Payne, but if you want to call me Karen that’s alright.”

“Okay,” Louis said, and closed his eyes when the car started moving.

He was tired of making decisions. She could take him anywhere.

***

Canyon Moon was small, but Louis only knew that because Karen told him that.

To him, it looked big. The buildings, proper constructions and not tents, were huge, made of brick and wood and metal. There were words everywhere, on buildings and signs and people’s clothes, too many words for Louis to even read.

Karen drove slow and smiled gently as Louis looked at everything.

“I can take you on a tour around once we get you settled, okay?” she said, “We don’t have much around here but it’s enough.”

Louis nodded along. This all sounded fine. He was realizing now that he had left with no plan, but he could maybe figure one out later, once he had been shown around and someone had doted on him for a little while.

“My son’s at work in the city until about six tonight, otherwise I’d give him a call. But you can stay with my nephew until then,” Karen continued, “Well, he’s not my actual nephew, but I’ve taken care of him for years. He actually knows a lot about the woods, from what he’s told me.”

Louis’s mouth popped open, ripe with a question. No one knew about the woods, not really, if they were human. Louis didn’t want to be stuck with a human who had ventured out once and thought they knew anything. But Karen was already pulling into the parking lot of a small building, so he closed his mouth and waited for her to stop and get his door.

The sign on the front of the door said “Bakery” and the big window showed all sorts of things Louis had never seen but that looked beautiful and edible. As he followed after Karen, he lingered for a long moment, looking at everything, and Karen smiled at him gently.

“I’m sure you can get whatever you want,” she said, “But first, come on, let’s get you out of the cold.”

Louis ducked his head and followed after Karen as she pushed inside the shop, making a small, pleasant ringing come from over Louis’s head. He lifted his head, trying to look for the sound, and stared for a long moment at the shiny little bell over the door.

He only looked away when Karen touched his arm. She pointed towards a small set of tables and chairs lined up against one wall.

“Grab a chair, Louis,” Karen said, then called, “Harry, hun, can you come out a minute?”

 _Harry_ , Louis thought as he sat in a chair at one of the bakery’s small tables. A good name that still drudged up something nice and warm inside of him. Maybe that was a good sign.

“Yeah, Auntie, I got it,” a voice called back. Louis blinked at the sound. It was a deep, pure sweet voice, like sap from a tree in winter. But it also plucked a bit of his heart, making his brows crinkle. Louis looked up at the counter of the bakery, and watched as the back door opened, a man coming through the door.

The man looked at Louis, his gaze wide, and their mouths opened at the same time, but only the man’s lips produced any sound.

“ _Louis_?” he said.

The man in front of him was definitely Harry. He had the same eyes, the same crooked smile and dimpled cheeks. But he also…wasn’t. He was much paler compared to the sun-baked brown skin he had always had years ago. He was taller and broader, and under his white shirt, his muscle-laden arms where marked with black designs. He had the shadow of a beard now.

His hair was also short, and that startled Louis more than anything. It was still curly, but it was cropped close on his temples and on top, his hair seemingly struggling to resume its old pattern. Harry’s hair had always touched his shoulders, thick and usually wrapped away from his face. No one but children had short hair in the pack, but here he was, every bit a man and yet with mane chopped away.

The man that was Harry moved quickly, moving around the counter and coming to stand in front of the table where Louis was sitting. As he moved, Louis caught a noseful of his scent, thick and rich, and his eyes watered, obscuring the sight in front of him.

“Oh my God,” Louis gasped, “Oh – oh my God.”

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked, standing tall and whole and _alive_ in front of Louis.

“What – “ Louis stuttered, “What am _I_ doing here? You’re _dead_ , Harry, what the fuck.”

“I – “ Harry offered a shaky, crooked smile, “No, I think I’m all here.”

He made a show of patting himself, trying to grin while he did it, but his expression quickly fell.

“Oh, Louis, I’m sorry, I’m – “

“You’re _alive_.” Louis said, feeling real tears prick at his eyes, “You’re – oh my God.”

He covered his mouth with his hands, and Harry awkwardly glanced at Karen, who was still standing in the corner of the shop.

“Karen, I think we need a little time.”

“I can tell,” she said, her eyebrows raising. Louis recognized the voice; it was the same one his mother used to silently say ‘we will talk later’, “Just make sure he gets a long shower and a good meal and probably some shoes, I mean, his feet – “

“I got it, yeah,” Harry said, “Can you just – shit, can you give us a minute?”

“Of course, baby,” she sighed, “You just give me a call if you need anything.”

Karen came over and gave Harry a kiss on the forehead – something she had to lift herself up to do – and then she gave Louis a quick hug before turning and leaving the bakery.

Harry just stared at Louis for a long moment, his eyes wide and uncertain, and then we spoke, he turned away.

“Let me get you something to eat,” Harry said.

“I – “ Louis started to say, but then his stomach grumbled loudly, and he grimaced and nodded at the idea.

Harry left, going to the back of the shop. Louis listened intently to the sound of his footsteps moving around and the clang of cookware. He drew his legs up, his sore feet pressed on the seat of his chair as he held his knees and listened to a ghost moving at the back of the shop.

When Harry emerged, he came back with a plate and a bottle and several bags, which he set in front of Louis before sitting across from him. Louis just stared blankly at the alien things in front of him, until Harry extended a long finger towards him, pointing at the various items he had set down.

“It’s a ham sandwich,” he said, “You’ll like it, it’s meat. And some chips, and an apple juice, and a brownie.”

Louis nodded as if he knew what any of those things tasted like, and he picked up the sandwich, pressing it to his mouth. He nodded as he ate it; it tasted good, salty and with soft bread on the outside. His grandmother knew how to make bread; he hadn’t had it since she had returned to the earth.

Once he started, Louis couldn’t stop, and he ate everything with fever, quickly, like he couldn’t wait another moment before it entered his body. When he was done he closed his eyes tightly and sighed, hugging his own body.

“Thank you,” he managed, and it felt like a ridiculous thing to do, to thank a man who used to be his best friend and who he thought had been dead for twelve years for giving him food he didn’t recognize in a small, strange human town, but he was doing it. He had left his pack and now he was in an impossible situation.

“You’re welcome,” Harry said in turn, his smile thin and tight.

“What happened?” Louis managed, then, the words feeling enormous as they came out of him.

“What?” Harry echoed.

“How are you alive? How are you here? What – “ Louis stuttered, “A bear got you, I thought.”

Harry’s face betrayed nothing, like he had no feelings towards his own death.

“Nah,” he managed, “I outran them.”

Louis couldn’t tell if he wanted to laugh or cry; what a stupid, Harry-like thing to say, and something he thought he could never hear again.

“Why didn’t you come back?”

“It’s a long story,” Harry said, “But I figure you have a long story, too, to tell me why you’re here.”

Louis resisted telling him that Harry’s story was longer, and that Louis had a million questions, like why Harry had black marks on his body and why his hair was short and why he was sitting in this human building like it wasn’t the strangest thing in the world. 

Instead, Louis said, “I guess I do.”

Harry smiled at him, that same smile, and nodded to the door.

“Want to tell me at my place?”

**

Louis took his second car ride of the day with Harry. Harry’s car was smaller and older looking than Karen’s had been, and he had to lean over the front seat and throw a backpack and a few notebooks and several long cords into the back seat before he smiled and told Louis he could come inside. Louis sat with his knees to his chest and watched Harry drive, so comfortable and casual behind the wheel as he made turns and pressed buttons that made new noises come out of the inside of the car.

Harry told Louis his apartment was three blocks away, and Louis didn’t know what that meant, but eventually they pulled up to a little brick building and Harry turned the car off. He guided Louis up a dark stairwell inside, and then down a short hallway. He produced a jagged piece of metal and used it to open the door, pushing it open for Louis to walk inside first.

“It’s a little small, sorry,” Harry said as he ushered Louis inside and turned on a light behind him.

It wasn’t small, it was bigger than the inside of even the alpha’s tent, but Louis just nodded at Harry’s statement. as he looked around and listened to Harry offer names to all the foreign things inside. The apartment had a small kitchen, the appliances old and yellowed on the edges. The living room was decorated mostly in green and rich brown, with a small green, plaid couch covered in thick brown throws, a wooly brown carpet, a sleek, sleeping TV.

“My room’s in here,” Harry pointed to one door, “And the other was supposed to be a walk in closet, real selling point of the place. But I don’t have many clothes, so I just took the shelves out and turned it into a guest bedroom. I don’t think anyone’s stayed in there except for some of my friends when they get too drunk, so, you’ll be my first real guest.”

He smiled, the brightness of it making Louis blink.

“The bathroom is between the two rooms,” Harry said, “I shower in the morning, usually, but if you need it in the morning I can move around you.”

Louis felt like he was in haze, still, where his best friend was alive and somehow knew every detail of this world they had both once considered a fairy tale. He was quiet as Harry showed him inside the guest room. The little room had a small bed with a deep blue comforter and soft grey sheets, a small side table with a lamp the same color as the comforter. It had a short dresser, too, which Louis had nothing to fill with, and a soft white rug. It looked like it was made of fur, but after putting his bare toes in it, he quickly realized it was fake.

It made him want to laugh. Fake fur. How ridiculous. Even more ridiculous for Harry to own when he had touched real fur all his life, when he _had_ real fur. 

“Do you need a minute to settle in?” Harry asked carefully, and Louis lifted his head, his eyes wide as he realized Harry was still there.

“Uh, maybe?” Louis said.

“Okay, well, I can give you some time,” Harry said, and smiled gently.

He backed out of the room, and Louis stood for a moment, his feet in the fake, plastic fur, before he opened his mouth again.

“Wait, Harry?” he called cautiously.

Within a moment, Harry was popping his head back in, giving him that same smile.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Can you show me how to use the shower?”

“Of course,” Harry said, “Do you need some clean clothes to change into, too?”

“Oh,” Louis said, “Yes, please.”

Harry nodded, and slipped into his own room for a moment before returning with a pile of clothes. He set them on top of the counter, and then pointed to each thing in the room, showing him the taps for hot and cold water, how to flush the toilet, which bottles in the shower were used for what.

“Any questions?” he asked after he had turned on the shower water and adjusted it for Louis. Louis just stared at the steady stream, caught in the awe of seeing so much water that wasn’t rain.

“When does it run out?” he asked.

“What?” Harry asked, his mouth frowning.

“The water, when is there no more of it?” Louis asked.

“Oh,” Harry chuckled, “There’s no end, you can shower as long as you want.”

“It – it just keeps going?”

“Well, I have to pay for using it at the end of the month, but yeah,” Harry said.

Louis blinked, remembering the dryness of the river bed and the burn of his own throat from days of not drinking.

“Okay,” he said, “Thank you, Harry.”

“You got it,” Harry said, “Just head out when you’re ready to eat.”

He left, then, and Louis just stood quietly in the middle of the bathroom, listening to the pounding of the water in the shower before he finally moved to strip off his clothes and get under the spray. The water was wonderfully warm, and he moaned weakly at the feeling as it hit his body. The water around his feet quickly turned brown as the dirt fell off his skin, and he dipped his head forward, untangling his braid to let his hair be soaked by the spray. The water turned nearly black as he washed it, and then back to brown, and finally, perfectly clear. Louis picked up the bottles Harry had pointed out and opened them, pouring some in his hair and then some on his mouth, until he was covered in bubbles that smelled like flowers.

He stood under the spray until his fingers were dried out, and even then, he took another minute to stick out his tongue, feeling the water hit his mouth for a long, delicious minute before he got out.

He dried himself off with a soft towel hanging on the wall. Harry had given him permission to dig through his drawers, so he looked until he found a hairbrush, and then combed out his hair and tied it up with one of the elastics floating around in Harry’s drawer. He got dressed last, taking a moment to smell Harry’s scent baked into the fabric before he put it on. Harry’s shirt swam on his shoulders, the stitches that held the sleeves to the rest of the shirt nearly to his elbows. The sweatpants Harry had provided also swam on him, but at least there was a tie he can pull to make them fit around his waist.

After he was done he turned off the light and padded out into his room, and then into the rest of the apartment. Harry was in the kitchen, his fingers moving on a little metal square in his hand, and he looked up with a laughing smile when he saw Louis.

“Oh, sorry those are a little big,” Harry said, “I figured they would be. But Karen can take you out to get some new clothes that fit tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” Louis echoed.

“I’m going to order dinner,” Harry said with a bright smile, “Oh, man, Louis, you’ve never had pizza. Get ready to have your life changed.”

He sounded so genuinely excited, and Louis couldn’t help but smile back.

He sat quietly on the sofa as Harry spoke to someone who wasn’t there in the kitchen, and then after a few minutes he told Louis the pizza would be there in an hour. Louis nodded, not sure how Harry knew that but content to play along. Harry came into the living room and switched on the TV, and Louis jumped at the sudden light and sound.

“It’s okay,” Harry laughed, “It’s fun. Here, I’ll put something on.”

He picked up a piece of plastic from the table in front of the couch and clicked at it, making the images on the TV change. He finally settled on one thing and went to join Louis on the couch as the TV played with foreign images and noises.

“What is that?” Louis asked.

“It’s a movie,” Harry said, “You watch them for fun.”

“How does it work? How does it get on the TV?”

“Don’t ask me,” Harry shrugged, “I like this one, though. It’s called _The Holiday_.”

“Okay,” Louis said, even though none of what was happening on the screen or coming out of Harry’s mouth made sense.

They sat next to each other as the movie played, and every few minutes Louis would blurt out another question. Harry answered them carefully, although half the time he just shrugged and said he didn’t know. It wasn’t an answer Louis wanted; he really needed some real answers right now. But he just nodded and looked at the TV and tried to figure out what was fun about this.

Eventually there was a loud bang on Harry’s front door that made him bristle and jump, but Harry just put his hand on Louis’s knee.

“It’s okay, it’s the pizza,” he said quickly.

He stood up and went to the front door, and a few minutes later came back with a big box, which he put on the table and opened up. It was a big circle, and half of it looked like it every kind of meat possible; thick crumbles of it and thin, circular slices, all of it greasy and with thick cheese and sauce. The other half just looked like it was all vegetables, and he frowned at it.

“The meat side is yours, don’t worry,” Harry laughed. He reached into the box and picked at the edge of the circle, until a triangular piece of the pizza came up. He handed it to Louis and he took it held it cautiously, turning it around, examining the thin piece, the bread soft and warm under his hands.

“How do I – “ he started, but before he could finish Harry reached over and carefully guided his hand.

“Just bite into the little edge there,” he said, “And work your way up to the crust.”

Louis nodded and then put the pizza into his mouth, the bite small and cautious. His eyes widened at the taste of it, how warm and soft and lovely on his tongue.

“Oh, oh wow,” Louis said.

“You like it?” Harry laughed.

“This is so good, oh wow,” Louis said, thrusting part of his slice to him, “Here, have some of mine.”

“Oh, no thank you, I’m alright,” Harry said, holding up his own slice from the other half of the pizza. Louis frowned at the bed of baked veggies he was holding.

“But you have no meat on yours,” Louis said, “Or cheese! That’s the best part.”

“I know,” Harry shrugged, “I’m actually vegan now.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It means I don’t eat anything that comes from animals,” Harry said, “No eggs, no milk, no meat.”

Louis blinked at him.

“You’re a wolf, Harry.”

“Well,” Harry said, “I don’t have to kill my food anymore, so.”

He lifted his slice to his mouth and Louis watched him take a bite of it, chew, swallow. Harry looked over at him and smiled gently, his eyes shifting.

“So how’s the pack?” he asked.

Louis blinked at the question, and how casual Harry had asked it, like it wasn’t at the center of his universe.

“Bad, Harry,” he said, “It’s really bad.”

“Oh,” Harry said softly.

“Yeah,” Louis said, “Your uncle took over.”

“I figured,” Harry said, “How’s my mom?”

“Um,” Louis said, blinking away images of Anne crumbled in her tent, murmuring to herself, her spirit deflated, “Not…that good.”

“Oh,” Harry said again.

He lifted his pizza to his mouth and looked at the screen in front of him, like “oh” could answer everything Louis had just said.

Louis opened his mouth again, ready to tell Harry everything, about the planned wedding, about how his grandmother had passed, how there was no water in the river any more and the birds barely sang.

And more importantly, he wanted to ask Harry when he planned on coming back, and why he hadn’t already.

Before he could ask, the metal square on the table in front of Harry lit up, and he leaned over to grab it.

“What’s that?” Louis asked, pointing to it as Harry picked it up.

“It’s my phone, I use it to talk with people,” Harry said, not looking up from the screen. He smiled as he tapped at it, and then looked at Louis, “Is it okay if some of my friends come over?”

“Oh, um – “

“You’ll like them. One of them, Liam, he’s Karen’s son. He was one of the first people I met when I came here, actually,” Harry said, “And Niall’s fun. I’ve never known anyone who hasn’t liked Niall.” 

Louis licked his lips, wrapping his arms around his stomach. He was looking forward to just getting to sit with Harry for a little bit, to ask him everything he wanted to know. But he was still a stranger here, and a guest in Harry’s house, so he nodded.

“Okay, that sounds fun,” he said.

“Great, I’ll tell them to come over,” Harry smiled. He went back to type on his phone, and Louis just took another piece of pizza and watched him, so wrapped up in a world he still didn’t recognize.

**

An hour later, their pizza box was empty and the movie Harry had put on was ending when there was a knock on the door. Harry immediately got to his feet and went to the door, leaving Louis to stare at the rolling credits on the screen, seeing how many names he could read.

There were two loud male voices floating down the hall a moment later, and Louis bristled a little at the strange noise.

“Harry, hey,” one man said, “Mom gave me a call when I was at work, I was glad I heard from you. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s great,” Harry said, and then called out, “Louis, come here for a second.”

Louis lifted himself off the couch, wrapping his arms around himself as he went to go meet Harry and his friends. He was quickly greeted by two brunette men, one of them tall and in a pale blue shirt and a tie, carrying a heavy blue box with one hand. The other was shorter and kept turning over a slim piece of metal in his fingers as he talked to Harry, but their conversation tapered off as Louis came over.

“Guys, this is Louis,” Harry offered.

“Hey, nice to meet you,” the smaller one offered with a nod of his head, “I’m Niall.”

He stuck the metal piece in his mouth and a moment later exhaled a thick, white cloud of sweet smoke.

“I like your hair,” he offered, and Louis awkwardly touched the back of his hair.

“Uh, thanks,” he stuttered, and then glanced at the taller one of Harry’s friends, who was just looking at him.

“Hey,” the other smiled and offered his free hand, “I’m Liam, you met my mom earlier.”

“Meaning you met the cooler Payne earlier,” Niall offered.

“Man, shut the fuck up,” Liam huffed. He was still holding out his hand to Louis, and Louis just looked at it and frowned.

“Humans shake hands when they meet, Louis,” Harry offered quietly.

“Why?” Louis blurted out, “That’s stupid.” 

“Well, shit, alright,” Liam laughed, retracting his hand, “I like him, H.”

Before Louis could say anything, the two men were moving through Harry’s home, noisily and comfortably. They tossed themselves on the couch and Liam put down the box and retrieved a metal can from it and cracked it open. Niall took another few cloud-like puffs of the metal thing he was still carrying. Louis stood stiffly in the mouth of the hallway and until Harry squeezed his shoulder and nodded at the couch.

“Come on, sit down, it’s okay,” he said. Louis just looked at him but after Harry sat down on the sofa next to Liam, Louis followed him and sat in the last remaining space next to Harry.

“Louis, you want a beer?” Liam asked, and Louis frowned.

“Um,” he said, but Harry cut him off.

“No, he doesn’t,” Harry said, “Come on, man, don’t be a dick.”

“What, I’m offering the fruits of our culture here,” Liam huffed.

Louis just looked between all of them, trying to put together the pieces of a joke he didn’t understand.

“What’s beer?” he asked softly.

“It tastes bad,” Harry said, “And it makes you act stupid. On that note, Niall, did you bring me what I asked you for last week?”

“Oh, shit, yeah, it’s in my bag,” Niall said, “Just grab the one with your name on it.”

“Sick, thanks,” Harry said. He grabbed the backpack Niall had left on the floor and rooted through it until he pulled out a plastic bag. It looked like it was full of dirty moss, but Harry cracked it up and smelled it, and then rooted through Niall’s bag until he found a packet of thin white papers.

“What’s that?” Louis asked, hating how stupid he probably sounded for asking for many questions.

“Marijuana,” Harry said, “It’s a plant, it makes you feel good.”

Louis nodded. He understood that, at least. They used plenty of plants for medicine in the woods.

“Can I have some?” he asked, and Harry snorted.

“Not right now,” he said.

Louis watched as Harry rolled up the paper with the moss-like stuff inside, and when it was a small stick, he reached into Niall’s bag and grabbed another piece of plastic. When he pressed on it a little flame came out of the end, making Louis gasp. But Harry just stuck the stick in his mouth and then lit up the end with the flame before extinguishing it with another click of a button.

Harry leaned back in his seat and exhaled, smoke pluming in front of him.

“You guys want to play something?” he asked.

“Oh shit, yeah!” Niall quickly said. He stood up and went to look around under Harry’s TV, pulling out items and loudly calling out things Louis didn’t understand.

After some half-baked explanations from Harry, he pulled it together that they wanted to play a video game, which was something else humans did for fun. Harry offered to teach him how to play, but Louis declined, instead sitting on the couch and watching as Harry turned the TV on again, put on the game, and handed up strange shaped plastic things to Liam and Niall. They sat on the floor, leaving Louis alone on the couch. The game involved a lot of bright light and loud noises that made Louis start every time. Each time Harry told him it was okay and eventually turned off the sound of the TV, but he was still focused on the screen. He rolled up more moss in paper and put the fiery thing in his mouth again, and then got a beer from Liam, even though he had just told Louis they tasted bad. Niall was still blowing out plumes of sweet smoke and taking sips of his own beer, and they all laughed and pushed each other’s shoulders as they pulled the game. Louis pulled his legs closer to his chest and watched them.

“How do you know each other?” he asked eventually.

“What?” Harry said, and then a second later, “Oh. Well. Liam’s mom found me.”

“After you left the woods,” Louis provided.

“Right,” Harry nodded, “So yeah, she found me, and I lived with Liam and her for awhile.”

“Karrrrennnnn!” Niall shouted, “That woman is a fucking angel!”

“I love her!” Harry shouted back, throwing his head back, “Liam, your mom’s cool as fuck.”

“I know that,” Liam huffed.

“How do you know Niall?” Louis asked, trying to ignore how Harry’s voice sounded different, more giggly and far away.

“Oh, I’ve known Niall forever,” Liam provided, “Part of the deal.”

“They still haven’t fucked, can you believe that, Louis?” Harry drawled.

“I am engaged,” Liam snapped, kicking Harry’s ankle, “Asshole.”

“Okay, I’ve never met him, though,” Harry said, “Louis, can you believe that? Liam has been engaged for like five fucking years and we’ve never met him. We don’t think he exists.”

“Zayn sounds like fake name,” Niall agreed.

“Man, shut up,” Liam sighed. He turned to look at Louis and sighed, “Louis, I’m sorry, Harry’s high.”

“Oh,” Louis said quietly. He used to hear about some members of the pack finding special plants in the woods that made their minds woozy, but his mother always bristled at the idea, saying it was a waste of time, and Harry had always listened to her and nodded along every time she lectured the two of them.

Apparently Harry didn’t think that way anymore. 

“I’m fine,” Harry said, “I’m still beating you, anyways.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Liam scoffed. He jammed at the buttons on the thing in his hand, and soon, they were all doing it, and shouting at the screen. Louis just watched, drawing in on himself as he watched Harry, high and flushed and giggling, play a meaningless game and laugh with friends Louis didn’t know.

Liam and Niall stayed late, until they were all decently sober, and Harry led them out, still laughing and clapping them on the back as he followed them out. When he came back, Louis was still on the couch, and Harry just blinked at him, smiling like he was a world away.

“You want to go to bed? You tired?”

“Sure,” Louis said, “M’tired.”

He was, but it felt like it couldn’t all be cured with sleep.

“Alright,” Harry said as Louis rose to his feet and shuffled to the guest room, “Night, Louis. Let me know if you need anything. I’m right there.”

He pointed to his bedroom door, with that smile still on his face, and Louis nodded and offered him a smile on his own before he slipped into the guest room.

He needed a lot of things – answers and a full river in the woods and a decent night’s rest, not just tonight but to make up for all the years he had survived on minutes of rest at a time.

But he wasn’t going to knock on Harry’s door and ask for them just yet. 

**

“Here, what do you think about these?”

Harry was standing in front of Louis holding up two sweaters, one of them red and white and the other plain black, both with fraying sleeves and thin fabric. Louis’s grandmother would curse him out for even looking at each shoddy work if she was still alive, but so far everything in the store had been the same.

Harry had woken him up with a warm bowl of something called oatmeal and a hot cup of tea that morning, and then told Louis he had taken the day off of work and he wanted to take Louis to go get some clothes. Louis was still wearing the flannel and sweatpants Harry had given him last night, just with a big coat and a pair of heavy hiking boots on his feet. He knew he probably needed something that fit, and so he hadn’t protested when Harry had pulled up to a small store on the outskirts of town called Goodwill. Harry had spent the last hour guiding Louis through the racks inside and taking him to the dressing rooms in the back to try things on, and Louis kept saying that human clothes weren’t right, the jeans were too hot and tight, the sweaters felt wrong, the shoes pinched his feet.

“I don’t want to wear shoes,” he protested every time they had to try some on.

“Humans wear shoes, Louis,” Harry had said time and time again, “Just try to find one pair, okay?”

So Louis had selected a pair of soft black sneakers, and then continued to complain when Harry told him they had to buy at least a few pairs of the jeans he had tried on.

“Why can’t I wear a skirt?” Louis had asked, “I wore a skirt in the pack.”

“Human men don’t really do that,” Harry had offered, which was a bullshit answer, but Louis just huffed and took some jeans.

Now Harry was trying to guide him through buying sweaters, and Louis was getting tired. The stores was too bright and cold and empty, and the human clothes in his arms felt and smelled weird. But Harry kept pushing like it was important.

“I don’t like either of them,” Louis finally said, and Harry sighed and put them back on the rack.

“Okay, we’ll find something,” he said. His words were patient but his voice was tired, and Louis frowned, stepping forward as Harry shuffled through the racks with laser focus.

“Harry?” Louis asked.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Harry said.

“Why do I need to get human clothes?”

“Well, as much as I don’t mind you borrowing my clothes, I thought you’d like to have something for yourself.”

“Yeah, but – “ Louis said, “I mean, we’re going back to the pack soon, right?”

Harry stopped, his body unmoving for a moment. Eventually, he turned to Louis, his brows lifted.

“What?”

“Well, I mean…” Louis trailed off, “I left because it was getting so bad, but, you’re here now, you can come back and fix it.”

Harry didn’t say anything, he just shifted to the next rack of clothes.

“Maybe we should talk about this later,” Harry said, “Not in public.”

He was frowning now, and he didn’t look at all excited.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Louis said, “Why can’t we talk about it here?”

“Louis,” Harry said quickly, “Just grab what you like and then let’s get out of here, okay?”

Louis just stared at him, opening his mouth, but Harry cut him off.

“Please, Louis, come on,” he said. Louis’s lips closed, and his stomach turned weakly as he grabbed three random sweaters off the rack and handed them to Harry along with the jeans and shoes in his arms. Harry took them and then walked quickly to the register, and Louis just watched as he pulled out a slim plastic card to pay for everything. He nearly had to jog to keep up with Harry as he grabbed the bag and walked to the exit of the shop.

“Harry?” Louis said cautiously as they went outside, out into the empty parking lot.

Harry just shook his head, pressing a button on his keys until his trunk popped open, and he threw the plastic bag of clothes into his trunk.

“Louis, listen, I’m really glad you’re here, and I’m really sorry about everything that’s happening,” Harry said as he walked around to the driver’s door. He kept his gaze down, not even lifting to look at Louis, “But I’m never going back there.”

Louis stood static on the stoop of the shop, his toes curling his Harry’s too-big shoes. His head felt underwater, the words floating right past him like fish in a spring stream.

“What?” he managed.

“I’m not going back,” Harry repeated, “I don’t belong there anymore.”

“Of course you do,” Louis said, “I know everyone will be surprised, I mean, obviously, but – “

“Louis,” Harry cut him off, “I do not. Belong. There. I belong _here_.”

Louis just stared, looking at the shop behind him, out at the empty, paved parking lot, and at the dinged up car Harry was standing next to. The alpha was standing next to it with his shiny keys in his hands and his human-made jacket on his shoulders and his short human haircut, but Louis could see the layers of the façade, the pieces of humanness laid on top of Harry like paint that was meant to wash away.

“You’re a wolf,” Louis said plainly, and Harry snorted.

“I even can’t shift anymore,” he said, “I haven’t done that in twelve years.”

The words struck Louis like a dull, heavy weight in his gut, but they didn’t fully register. It was impossible, the idea of wolf not being able to shift. For _Harry_ to not shift.

“You don’t just forget that,” Louis insisted, “You can do it.”

“I can’t,” Harry said.

“You can’t?” Louis repeated, “Or you don’t want to?”

“Both, Louis, both,” he snapped, his voice suddenly harsh. Louis blinked, his arms moving closer around himself as Harry spoke.

“I don’t want to shift, or hunt, or live in the woods, or kill a rabbit when I’m hungry,” Harry said. “I don’t want to be a wolf any more, I want to be a person. Can’t you just let me be that?”

Louis’s feet moved before he could think, his gait steady even though his feet felt awkward in the boots.

“No, I can’t,” Louis insisted, moving in front of Harry, “You’re our alpha, Harry. You can’t just leave all of us.”

“Oh, come on,” Harry huffed, “You really buy into that shit now? Weren’t you always bitching about what we were expected to do and how it was bullshit?”

Louis swallowed, trying to keep his voice level.

“I was a kid when I said that,” he said.

“Alright, well,” Harry said, his finger passively clicking the buttons on his keys, “You know if I go back you’d still have to marry me, right? I remember you hated that the most.”

Louis pressed his lips together hard.

He didn’t dare say that over the past few years, that whole idea hadn’t sounded so bad.

That one day he was sixteen and in heat and a pair of green eyes he hadn’t seen in a year popped in front of his eyes and he sobbed as he came.

Instead, what he punched Harry in the shoulder as hard as he could.

“ _Ow_ ,” Harry hissed, “Louis, what the fuck?”

“You’re still a fucking asshole,” Louis snapped, “Twelve years and you’re still an asshole, but now you’re worse because you’re not even a wolf anymore.”

“I’m not going to fight you,” Harry said flatly, “We are grown adults.”

“You know I’d still beat you.”

“The last time you beat me we were still the same height,” Harry said blandly, “I am four inches taller than you.”

Louis just narrowed his eyes, and then, wordlessly, he shifted. He darted at Harry quickly, moving up onto his hind legs. His front paws slapped Harry’s shoulders, and if he moved his neck up, his snout could just meet Harry’s face. He drew his lips back, snarling, and Harry cursed.

“Louis, what the fuck?” he snapped, pushing at Louis, “Cut that shit before someone fucking calls animal control, are you _kidding_ me.”

Louis didn’t listen, instead, he pushed hard on Harry’s shoulder, until the other man was flat on his back. Harry cursed loudly as his body hit the pavement, but Louis didn’t stop, he just pawed at Harry’s shirt, his claws digging into the fabric. He barked, and Harry cursed again and shoved at him.

“Fucking hell, Louis, I get it! _Stop_!” he shouted, “ _Stop_!”

Louis relented, moving back and shifting back. He stumbled back heavily as he shifted, his eyes glaring at Harry stumbled to his feet, staring down at his now-ripped shirt.

“I think you have quite made your point,” Harry said flatly, “But that does not change anything. I’m not going back with you. So you can go back without me or stay here or I can buy you a ticket to wherever else you want to go, but you are not dragging me back there, do you understand?”

Louis was just silent as he looked at Harry, his arms a vice grip around himself.

“Well, anything else you want to say?” Harry said.

Louis finally dropped his gaze, feeling a lump rise up, hard and prominent, in his throat.

“Your uncle wants me to mate him,” Louis finally said, his voice weak, “That’s why I left.”

He felt his eyes fill up, and normally, he would wipe them away, push the feelings down, but now, he looked up. He wanted Harry to look at him.

“He wants an heir,” Louis said, “And I’m still the next pack omega. So I have to mate the pack alpha. I don’t have a choice.”

Harry blinked. Any anger in his face was gone, left only with confusion.

“I’m sorry, Louis.”

“Don’t apologize to me when you could fix this.”

Harry fixed him with a firm look again, his eyes dark.

“I can’t fix it.”

“Yes, you can,” Louis pushed, “It’s your pack!”

“It is not my pack!” Harry snapped back.

He lifted his arms, gesturing around.

“I worked hard to live here Louis. I had to finish high school and learn how to use a computer and a fucking stove and tie a pair of shoelaces. I’m finally okay, I have a job and a college degree and an apartment and I’m happy, Louis, I’m okay here.”

“Okay doing what?” Louis pushed back, “Playing stupid games and getting high while our pack is dying?”

Suddenly, before Louis could process anything, Harry’s body was pressed on his, bracketing Louis’s own body against the car. Louis’s eyes widened. Harry smelled the same, but up close it was sharper, richer. Even if his time out of the woods had changed everything else, that was the same.

Louis was also hyper aware that Harry was much taller than him now, and bigger, and he was dipping his head down, looking right at Louis, his eyes still darkened. Slowly, they lightened and changed, like he was realizing what he was doing. He pulled back, taking a slow step, the sound of his boot echoing on the ground. He turned, his broad back to Louis.

“I’m sorry, Louis,” he said softly, “I just…I can’t go back.”

“Can you tell me why, at least?”

“Maybe later,” he said.

He pushed on Louis’s hip, getting him to move away from the car, and pressed on the key, making a clicking noise come from inside the car.

“Come on, let’s go home,” Harry said, “I’ll get you more pizza.”

“I’m not going back with you,” Louis said.

“Don’t be silly”

“I’ll walk.”

“We’re two miles out of town.”

“I’ve walked longer,” Louis said, “You’re just out of shape.”

“Get in the car, Louis,” Harry said, “Please.”

Louis didn’t say anything. He just tightened his arms around himself and walked back, slowly, towards the road.

“Louis,” Harry called flatly. Louis just looked over his shoulder, back at the alpha, who was already getting smaller in the distance.

“You,” he said, “Still do not get to tell me what to do.”

**

Louis managed to find the police station after an hour of trudging around town.

It was a plain, one story building with only a few cars out front, but the sign was at least clearly marked. His feet hurt and he didn’t have anywhere else he could think to go, so he shuffled inside, keeping his head low as he scanned the inside of the station.

It was plain and empty, filled with old furniture and not much else. It was also full of static and beeping noises, and he winced, covering his hands with his ears as he stood by the door.

“Louis?”

The voice burst through the cover of Louis’s hands, and he blinked and looked up. Karen was sitting behind the counter at the front of the station, and she looked worried as he rounded the counter and came over to him.

“Hi,” Louis offered, carefully taking his hands off his ears.

“What are you doing here, sweetheart?” Karen asked, “Something I can help with?”

“I don’t know,” Louis admitted, “Harry and I – we had a fight.”

“Already?” Karen asked. There was lightness in her voice and a small smile on her lips, but she grew serious when she looked at Louis’s face, “Why don’t you come on back, I’ll get you something to drink and a snack.”

“Can I sit down, too?” he asked, wincing at the pain in his feet. Walking in boots was a lot harder than Harry made it look.

“Of course,” Karen said, “I’ll take you to my office, come on.”

The room Karen led him to was in the back of the station, and it was messy, full of paper and old take out containers and a black box that made scratching noises. Louis frowned and bristled at it, but Karen just put a hand on his back.

“That’s my scanner, honey, it tells me if there’s anyone that needs help. It won’t hurt you,” she said, “Go on, sit down.”

Louis looked at the scanner for another moment and then relented and sat down on one of the chairs in the room. In front of him was a small wooden desk, mostly covered in papers, and a much bigger version of the computer Harry had in his own apartment.

“I’m going to get you something to eat,” Karen said, and Louis nodded and kept looking around the office and all the things he didn’t know the name of. He only stopped when his eyes fell on a few framed pictures next to Karen’s computer.

A few were just of Liam, or Liam and Karen alongside what looked like the rest of Liam’s family. But there were also several pictures of Harry. But it was Harry like Louis had never gotten to see, over several ages. There was Harry as a lanky teenager, with sun-lightened hair and a deep summer tan, sitting inside a canoe on a bright blue lake. Then there was an older Harry, sporting the ghost of a beard, standing next to Karen, dressed in some odd robe and wearing an even odder hat, holding a piece of paper in his hand. And then there was Harry now, or at least close to now, wearing a brightly patterned shirt and smiling, his hands in his pockets, a sunset bright and peeking over his shoulder.

“Here you are, dear,” Karen’s voice said, starting Louis out of his thoughts. She had appeared in the doorway with a soft smile and her hands full. She gave Louis a white cup full of something brown and hot and a plate with a few round things on it.

“That’s hot chocolate,” she said, pointing to the cup as she went to sit in the chair on the other side of the desk, “And I got you some cookies from the break room. Just give that hot chocolate time to cool so you don’t burn your mouth.”

“Thank you,” Louis said softly. He put the cup of hot chocolate on the desk but picked up one of the cookies and tucked it into his mouth. It was soft and sweet and he hummed as he ate it. He finished it quickly and then moved onto the other ones on the plate. He had forgotten that Harry was going to take him to get lunch after they went shopping.

“So,” Karen said once Louis had finished his cookies and wiped his mouth on the back of his head, “Do you want to tell me what happened with you and Harry?”

Louis sighed, looking down at his empty paper plate.

“He took me to get some clothes,” Louis started.

“That was nice of him,” Karen offered.

“Yeah,” Louis agreed with a shrug, “But I asked when we were going back to the pack. And he said he didn’t want to.”

“Oh,” Karen said softly, “I see.”

“I just don’t get why he won’t come back,” Louis said. His throat felt thick and tight, and he swallowed weakly, “Our pack is dying, and he doesn’t even want to listen to me talk about it. He just changes the subject, and then says he’s never going back. And he doesn’t even understand why he needs to come back.”

“Why does he need to come back?” Karen echoed. Louis frowned, and she lifted and spread her hands, “I’m an outsider to this. I’m just trying to understand.”

“Because he’s our alpha,” Louis said, “He’s supposed to lead our pack.”

“Like his father did,” Karen said.

Louis blinked at him, and she smiled, lifting a hand to card it through her short hair.

“Harry’s a wonderful kid,” Karen said, “I could see that the moment I found him on the side of the road just inside the town limits when he was thirteen. And I’ve seen that every year since, when he’s been living in my house and when he hasn’t. I know a lot about him. And I know he doesn’t like to talk about the woods.”

“Not at all?” Louis asked, his voice quivering.

“A little,” she admitted, “He talks about his parents. His mom, a lot. His dad, when he’s having a hard day. So I know about the alpha thing.”

Louis nodded, squeezing his hands tighter around the cup, making it bend inward.

“He talks about you.”

That made Louis lift his head and frown, looking at the woman across the desk who was smiling at him.

“Me?”

“Yes,” Karen nodded, “Or, he talks about his best friend from back home. But I assume that’s you.”

“How do you know?” Louis asked. He squirmed in his seat at the thought of this stranger knowing about him and Harry, Harry sharing their memories together with a world outside of the pack.

“I just have a feeling,” Karen said, her smile light and pleasant.

Louis frowned. She looked like she knew more about something than he did.

“Harry really cares about you,” Karen told him.

“Well he’s not acting like it,” Louis mumbled.

He picked up the cup from the counter and lifted it to his lips, sipping at the sweet liquid inside. It was so good he drained nearly half the cup before he looked up at Karen again.

“Honey, I don’t know if I can give you a perfect solution,” she said, still with that patient smile, “But I’ve known Harry for a long time, and he’s never told me about the woods. It might take him just as long to tell you everything. But I have a feeling it won’t. You just need to wait for him to tell you.”

Louis looked down at his lap, frowning.

“I don’t know if I can,” Louis said.

“Just give it a try,” Karen said, “And I love Harry, I do, but I know he can be stubborn. But when he’s ready to come to you, I promise, he’ll come to you with everything you could ever want to know.”

Louis nodded along and lifted his cup of hot chocolate, sipping at it.

In the midst of the quiet, Louis heard the door of the station open, followed by the pounding of boots and a shouting voice.

“Karen?” Harry’s voice called, sounding a bit panicked. Karen smiled at Louis and winked. 

“There he is,” she said, “Give him a second.”

There were hurried footsteps down the hall, Harry’s voice shouting to accompany them.

“Hey, Auntie? I really need your help, Louis – “

His voice came to a halt when he came to the doorway of the office. He stared at Louis with wide eyes as he leaned against the doorway, his cheeks pink and his hair messy.

“Louis,” he breathed out.

“Hey,” Louis said quietly.

“I looked everywhere for you, I, shit – “ Harry sighed and then looked at Karen, “Has he been here the whole time?”

“He hasn’t been here long,” Karen said, “We were just chatting.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Harry asked.

“You’d end up here eventually, there aren’t many places in this town for you to look.”

“Jesus, Auntie, almost had a heart attack looking out there,” Harry huffed. When he looked to Louis, his eyes were soft, his smile hesitant, “Hey, can we go back to my place? Talk for a bit?”

“Yes, please,” Louis said softly.

He got up from the chair, still clutching the cup. He looked back at Karen, lifting it up.

“Thank you for the hot chocolate, Karen,” he said, “And the cookies.”

“My pleasure, honey,” she said, “You just remember what I told you, okay?”

Louis nodded and then slipped out of the office before Harry. He caught Harry giving Karen a confused look, and then closing the office door to follow after Louis.

“What did y’all get to chatting about?” Harry asked when they were out into the parking lot.

“You,” Louis said bluntly.

He went around to the passenger side of Harry’s car, waiting for it to be opened.

“Well,” Harry said as he pressed on his keys, making the car click from the inside, “I guess you two do have that in common.”

Louis slid into the car, and a few seconds later Harry got into the driver’s side. He closed the door firmly behind him and then looked at Louis, his eyes wide.

“Louis,” he said firmly, “I’m very sorry for what happened today.”

Louis bobbed his head and then looked into his hands at the dredges of hot chocolate left his hands.

“I overreacted. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that,” Harry continued. “It – it’s a sensitive topic for me, that’s all. I have a hard time talking about it.”

Louis closed his eyes as he listened. He swallowed, his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth.

“I’m sorry, too,” Louis said softly, “For asking you about it.”

“Wait a second,” Harry said, his voice light and laughing, “Is Louis Tomlinson really apologizing to me right now?”

“I don’t have to, you know,” Louis immediately snapped, which only made Harry laugh more.

“There he is,” Harry said. His laugh quieted, and he gave Louis a real smile, “And hey, it’s alright. You didn’t know, and I guess it was a natural thing to ask about…”

He trailed off, but Louis filled in the quiet.

“We don’t have to talk about the pack,” Louis said softly.

Harry just looked at him, and Louis squirmed in the silence.

“Are you sure?” Harry eventually asked, “Because I know – “

“We don’t have to,” Louis said again, “I kind of want to talk about other things, anyways.”

Harry drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, nodding to himself.

“Well alright then,” he said.

They were quiet for another moment, and Louis squeezed on the nearly empty cup in his hands. Harry looked over and watched him.

“So you like hot chocolate, huh?” Harry asked.

Louis immediately straightened up, looking at the alpha.

“Oh, hot chocolate is _so_ good, Harry,” Louis gushed, “Have you tried it? Here!”

He pushed the cup towards the alpha, but Harry just chuckled and put up his hand.

“I have had it,” Harry said, “And as much I respect Karen for keeping the powdered mix on hand, there’s actually much better hot chocolate down at the café. You want to go get some and maybe a sandwich?”

“Even better hot chocolate?” Louis said, disbelieving.

Harry just smiled and turned the key in the ignition, making the car sputter to life.

“I guess we’ll just have to get some for you to believe me.”

**

For the next few days, Louis stayed by Harry’s side.

He had set aside the idea of going back to the woods, and instead allowed Harry to take him into his new life.

Most days, Harry worked part time at the bakery where Louis had first seen him. Harry offered to just let Louis stay in his apartment while he was working, but Louis hated the idea of being alone in a small space full of things he didn’t know how to operate. So Harry drove him to the bakery and sat him down at a table in the back room with something to do while he worked at the cash register up front. Harry tried to keep Louis busy with human things. He brought his laptop to the bakery and showed Louis how to watch movies on it. He gave him books of puzzles where Louis would find different pictures or find words in a sea of letters, which usually took him a few hours to finish. He brought Louis to a building full of books and told Louis he could pick out as many as he wanted and could bring them back in two weeks for new ones. None of it felt real; this world where could spend so much time entertaining themselves with stories, but Louis grew to enjoy it.

In the afternoons, Louis went back home with Harry, where the alpha said he did his main job. It involved a lot of sitting on his computer, and every afternoon Louis sat next to Harry on the sofa, held a fresh mug of hot chocolate, and looked at the screen, frowning at the different images that flashed across it.

“What are you doing?” Louis asked Harry the first afternoon.

“My job,” Harry said, “I’m a graphic designer.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means other people ask me to make art for them and I make it and they pay me,” he said, “Money. They pay me money. That’s what humans use to get things.”

Louis nodded along, not quite understanding. But he sat next to Harry and quietly watched him work, letting the hours pass as Harry worked. He told Harry what he was making looked nice and Harry smiled and said thank you every time.

Harry cooked him every meal from the time Louis got up until he went to bed. Harry still wouldn’t eat meat, but he bought some for Louis and made him sandwiches and soup and things Louis had never tasted before. _Enchiladas_. _Chicken nuggets_. _Sweet and sour pork_.

Louis asked a lot of questions, when it was the end of the night and Harry had put on a movie for the two of them, even though they never ended up really watching it.

“What are these?” Louis asked one night, jabbing Harry in the arm where there was a black marking. Harry looked down at him and then smiled, rubbing a hand over his arm.

“They’re tattoos,” Harry said, “Someone takes a needle with ink in it and puts it on your skin and it makes a design that lasts forever.”

“Why do you have so many?”

“I like them,” Harry shrugged, “Want me to tell you about them?”

Louis nodded, and Harry pointed to every mark on his arms and rolled back his sleeves and the collar of his shirt to show Louis the ones of his shoulders and chest. He told him little stories about them, where he was when he had gotten them, why he liked them so much, how much they hurt.

“I have one of my stomach, too, do you want to see?” Harry asked, but Louis’s face burned at the idea of seeing that much of Harry’s body after so long.

“Maybe later,” he squeaked, and then quietly wrapped his arms around his legs while Harry rolled his shirt back into place with a gentle smile.

Harry didn’t say anything, even though Louis was sure his treacherous face was pink for reasons he didn’t want to think about too hard.

Liam and Niall came over a few more times, but they didn’t drink or smoke or play any loud video games. They came over for dinner and quiet human games they taught Louis to play, where they built words on a board or played with cards. Louis found he didn’t mind them like that. Liam was sweet and Niall was funny, and they always asked how he was feeling, and they looked at Harry like he was the moon itself.

Louis didn’t blame them.

Louis slowly learned to walk in human shoes without dragging his feet, even though it took many hours of clomping around Harry’s apartment when the alpha was trying to work. He did his hair in braids and buns and tails when he and Harry went out, even though people always looked at him funny. He dressed in the uncomfortable human sweaters and jeans Harry had bought him, only to change into Harry’s sweatpants and long shirts when he was home.

One day, Harry brought Louis home from the bakery and there was a package on his doorstep. He grinned when he saw it and leaned over to pick it up.

“This is for you,” Harry said. Louis frowned and took the box as Harry unlocked the apartment door.

“What is it?” he asked.

“A present I got you,” Harry said, “Here, I’ll help you open it.”

Harry got the pair of scissors from the kitchen drawer, which he had told Louis firmly he was not allowed to touch, and cut into the tape on the top of the box before handing it back to Louis. The omega ripped into the rest of the box, pushing against thin paper to find fabric. He held up what was inside, and a skirt unfurled in his hands, flowy and covered in cartoon daisies on a bright blue background.

He blinked up at Harry, who smiled at him.

“This is for me?” Louis asked.

“Yep,” Harry nodded, “You can wear it around the apartment, okay?”

Louis immediately lunged forward and wrapped Harry in a tight hug. The alpha exhaled weakly at the impact of Louis’s body and laughed.

“You like it?” he asked.

“Yes, I do,” Louis said, jumping in place, “Thank you, Harry, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Harry laughed, “Go try it on. If it’s the wrong size I can return it and get a new one.”

Louis immediately broke out of Harry’s arms and ran to his room. He took off the stiff jeans he had been wearing all day but left on the big t-shirt Harry had let him wear out. He put the skirt on, then, and smiled at the feel of it. His legs left free under the soft fabric, and he twirled in place, feeling it move along with his body.

He emerged from his room to show Harry, who was already waiting outside, leaning against the kitchen counter as he looked at Louis’s door. The alpha chuckled when he saw him, and Louis frowned.

“Why are you laughing?” he pouted.

“Sorry,” Harry said, his smile brilliant, “I just think you’re the first person to rock a Smiths t-shirt with a daisy skirt.”

He came over, his long legs easily closing the distance between them in a few steps. He reached up and tucked Louis’s hair behind his ear, his eyes firm on him as he did so.

“You look damn good, though.”

Louis blinked up at the alpha, his lips nearly twitching into a frown. His words were friendly, as they always were, but it felt like there was more to them.

Harry seemed to realize this, too, and frowned for a moment before his expression smoothed out again and he took his hand away.

“So are you hungry?” Harry asked, “I’ll make you hamburgers and French fries for dinner.”

“Oh,” Louis said, perking up, “Yes, please.”

Harry let distance rise up between them again, and Louis clambered up onto a stool by Harry’s kitchen counter and sat quietly as he watched Harry go into the kitchen to work. The alpha always cooked with such careful hands, cutting vegetables and opening packages and spinning dials on the oven and stove. Louis loved to watch him, but tonight he paid special attention to how Harry moved and worked. He still had that grace to him he had had even as a child, the grace of a promising hunter, the rhythm of the wolf Harry claimed had left him.

It made sadness turn in Louis’s chest, but next to it was another, dormant feeling. A rush of happiness and nerves and excitement all wrapped together, sparking in his chest and belly and fizzling to the rest of his body with every move Harry made.

They ate dinner on the sofa with another movie turned on that they would inevitably talk through. Louis sat with his legs crossed next to Harry and his skirt falling around him, and every time Harry moved and accidentally brushed his knee, he felt the alpha’s body tighten, just the smallest bit. But Louis knew too much about bodies that were afraid; he was a hunter, he could see the twitch of fear and recognition in a squirrel or deer a hundred feet away.

He wasn’t hunting Harry, not even close. But Harry was afraid.

Maybe Louis was, too.

**

Two days later, Louis was doing a word puzzle in the back of the bakery when Harry came back to see him.

“Ready to go?” he asked, holding up the jacket he had been loaning Louis. Louis didn’t get cold until the dead of winter, but he had been wearing it for Harry’s sake.

“Yeah,” Louis smiled, and then held up the puzzle book, “Look, I almost found everything.”

“Nice,” Harry grinned, “I bet you’ll be done by the time the car ride home is over.”

Louis blushed at that and then held the book to his chest as he slid off the stool and came over to Harry. He let the alpha put the coat on him, as he had found he liked to do. Harry pulled the jacket on him, and then went to do up the zipper, which still confused Louis to no end.

“Hey, Louis?” Harry said as he attached the contraption together and started to tug on it.

“Yeah?”

“Would you maybe want to go out to dinner with me tonight?”

He looked up as he said it, his fingers still frozen on the zipper. Louis just blinked.

“We always have dinner together.”

“Yeah, I know,” Harry said, “But this would be like…out. At a restaurant.”

Louis frowned.

“Why are we going to a restaurant?”

“Well, um,” Harry said, “I thought it could be a date.”

Louis’s chest felt like someone was drumming inside his ribcage.

“A date?” Louis parroted.

“Yeah,” Harry said. He zipped up the jacket a fraction of an inch, his fingers nervous.

“Would you, ah,” the alpha said, “Like to do that?”

Louis just stared for a moment, silent. He thought of his parents, who had never gotten the chance to talk to him about courting. He was always too young, and then suddenly his future mate was dead, and then in the next instant he had the pack on his shoulders and had other things to worry about.

But for years they had told him fleeting stories about the bouquets of wildflowers and autumn leaves his father had brought his mother when they were young, how he followed her aimlessly for a week, asking her for attention she only sometimes gave him. How he had begged for a week for Grandmama’s permission to mate her daughter until she said yes.

Louis didn’t know how humans courted. But he also wasn’t sure how his own kind did, either.

But Harry made his insides feel electric, and so he nodded and smiled.

“I would like a date with you,” he said.

Harry’s face lit up like spring sunshine, and he quickly zipped up Louis’s coat.

“Okay,” he said, his voice giddy, “Um. Cool.”

He stepped away from Louis, and then dug in his pockets for his car keys, which he promptly dropped.

“Shit,” he mumbled, “Let’s, um. Go home. We have a few hours.”

Louis nodded, still smiling, and then came over to Harry as the alpha turned to leave the bakery.

He grabbed Harry’s hand and felt the alpha tense the smallest bit as Louis held it.

He did not let go.

**

Somehow, a month went by in Canyon Moon.

Harry took Louis on dates to the same places in town to get hot chocolate and sandwiches, or to go to the library, where Louis asked Harry to read books with words that Louis’s out of practice brain couldn’t comprehend. They held hands when they went out, and Harry got Louis little gifts of chocolate bars and stuffed toys to hold in bed at night. One afternoon Harry accidentally said “you ready to go, babe?” at the end of his shift at the bakery and turned bright red, which only deepened when Louis told him he liked it.

Liam and Niall exchanged glances now when they all hung out together, but never said anything. Karen did the same when she would swing by the bakery or Harry’s apartment to check in, offering Harry a knowing smile and saying “you boys have fun” with a grin before she left.

Louis had never seen Harry blush so many times in his life.

But he liked it all. He liked the dates, he liked the gifts. He liked human food and human books and human board games.

But he liked Harry the best. 

One day, on a sunny day where the cold was briefly less punishing, Harry woke Louis up with hot breakfast and a smile. 

“Let’s go hiking,” Harry said.

Louis immediately perked up as he tightly held the spoon Harry had given him for his oatmeal.

“Like in the woods?”

“Yes,” Harry nodded, “The trail I was thinking of is far away from town, not many people go there. You can wear whatever you want.”

Louis immediately started to push away from the counter, but Harry chuckled and grabbed his wrist.

“Hey. Oatmeal first. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

Louis rolled his eyes but scarfed down his oatmeal, shuddering as the hot food hit the back of his throat. When he was done he climbed off his stool and ran to get dressed. Harry smiled fondly when he emerged a few minutes later in his skirt, one of Harry’s shirts, a heavy denim jackets with a fleece collar, and bare feet.

He didn’t protest. He had told Louis he could wear anything.

The hiking trail was a long drive away, and as soon as Harry parked the car and opened the door Louis started running towards the trees, forcing Harry to catch up. The place was cleaner than the forest Louis was used to, with neat trees and a carved out path. But it was still deep into the trees and empty, and that was enough.

Louis raced ahead of Harry, his bare feet pounding the earth. Every few feet he found a tree he liked and climb up to the tallest branch, and Harry stood under the tree and laughed and watched.

“Careful,” he said, and Louis just grinned as he grabbed for another branch.

“I’ve never fallen,” he said, “Unlike you.”

“Heyy,” Harry protested, “Not fair.”

“Still true,” Louis jabbed back.

After he had climbed down from his third tree, Louis quietly began to hike side by side next to Harry. The alpha looked at him with a smile, then turned his eyes out to the rest of the trail.

“I like to come here as much as I can,” Harry said, “On weekends and stuff.”

“Yeah?” Louis said.

“Yeah, I guess it still calms me down to be in the woods,” Harry admitted, “I still have a few good memories.”

Louis’s mouth twitched, and he looked down at his dirty feet.

“Just a few?”

“I have a lot,” Harry amended, “My parents, mostly. Getting to see them and talk to them. My mom’s cooking and when she used to brush my hair.”

He lifted his hand, carding it through his short hair, and then limply let his hand drop.

“I miss the air a lot,” Harry said, “That’s so weird, but the air was so clean and fresh out there. I went to the city once with Liam and could barely breathe, the air smells so wrong out there.”

He paused, kicking a rock in his path as he kept walking.

“I miss hunting. Not the killing part, I don’t really like that anymore,” he said, “But I miss running and being outside and being with everyone.”

Louis nodded, lifting his chin.

“I lead the hunt now, you know.”

Harry looked over, his brows arching.

“Do you really?”

“Yeah,” Louis said. His mouth twitched. He wasn’t sure if he should smile or not, “I – I’m the best hunter in the pack.”

“Well,” Harry said, “You always were, when people would let you do it.”

“Yeah, well,” Louis shrugged, “They let me know.”

He looked down at the path, not sure how much more he wanted to say. But Harry just gave him a long look and then held out a hand.

“Come on,” he said as Louis took it, “I want to show you my favorite place.”

Harry’s favorite place was a long while off, through another few miles of trees and then up a tall, sloping hill. Harry was panting and gulping down water by the time they were half way up the peak, but Louis was walking steadily, only taking a few sips of water when Harry offered the bottle to him.

“You’re incredible,” Harry told him.

“I’m a wolf,” Louis rolled his eyes, and then, “Come on. I want to see.”

Harry was slow as they reached the top, and once he was there, he promptly sat down on the ground. Louis slowed, too, but took a long moment to stare out at the view in front of him before he joined Harry in sitting.

Miles of trees were spread out below them, uncut forest spotted with golden foliage. The buildings of Canyon Moon and the roads leading in and out of it were the only things that broke it up, but the rest was nothing but the trees.

“Wow,” Louis said softly.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “Wow.”

They were quiet for a long moment, and then Harry sighed, shaking his head.

“When I was a teenager I used to think I could see camp from up here, if I looked hard enough,” Harry said, “But I guess that was just my imagination.”

Louis’s throat felt bitter and acidic. He wanted to tell Harry that of course he couldn’t see the camp. He would know if he could see it. He would have been able to see the dying trees and the dry river all the way from up here.

Louis wondered if he would have come back if he had seen it.

But he stopped the thought quickly.

He realized he didn’t want to talk about the pack at all. He just wanted to enjoy this one moment, to let himself be reminded what his own happiness felt like.

They were quiet for a long time, and then Harry chuckled to himself, his laugh soft. Louis looked over at him, lifting his brows.

“What?” he asked.

“It’s just – “ Harry said, “Sometimes I used to pretend if I looked really hard, or brought some binoculars or something, I could see you.”

Louis was quiet at that, and Harry looked over at him, his smile bright but careful.

“I missed you the most,” Harry confessed, “Out of everything in the pack, I thought of you the most.”

Louis blinked at Harry’s words and looked over at the alpha. His cheeks were pink from the hike and he was looking at Louis with wide eyes that were turning more and more golden from the sun overhead. Louis was trying to find something to say, anything at all, but the words wouldn’t come to him when he opened his mouth.

But before he could think of anything to say, Harry was leaning towards him. His beautiful eyes fluttered closed, and his lips puckered, and Louis felt his body freeze for a moment, unsure of what to do.

And then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, he leaned towards Harry and pursed his lips out as well to meet the alpha.

Harry’s lips were soft and a bit chapped from the wind, and they were so, so careful as they pressed against Louis’s own mouth.

Louis felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Like he wanted to climb on top of Harry and kiss him into the earth. Like he wanted to pull away and run into the forest just for Harry to chase after him.

But his heart didn’t explode, and he kept kissing Harry, the alpha’s cautious lips in tune with Louis’s own.

Harry exhaled gently, and then pulled away, blinking at Louis with blown out eyes.

“That was my second kiss,” he said softly, “From when I kissed you in the woods that one time, remember?”

Louis’s heart skipped again.

“I remember,” he said quietly and then, “It was my second, too.”

He looked down at the earth in between them and then back up at Harry, trying to make the lump in his throat go away.

“Only your second? Really?”

“There was no one here for me,” Harry said, “Not until you came here.”

Louis just looked at this alpha, who was all grown up, strong and tall and with the shadow of a day’s beard on his face, and yet was shaking like a child.

Louis leaned over and put his hand on Harry’s and leaned in. The alpha’s wide eyes followed his hand up to his face and back again.

“Let’s see what our third kiss is like,” Louis said. 

Harry wide eyes fluttered closed, and he leaned in again.

It was pitch dark by the time they hiked back to the car, and their lips were both raw, and Harry turned on the radio and sang the whole way home.

**

A few nights after their hike, Louis was curled up in his bed, his knees drawn to his chest and a book spread out on his knees. Harry had gotten him a new book from the library, one about a girl and a pig and a spider who were friends. Louis read slowly and carefully and underlined words he didn’t recognize to ask Harry about in the morning. He did this most nights before he could finally grow tired enough to sleep. His instincts to stay up late hadn’t quite worn away.

Just as Louis was turning a page, he heard a knock on his door. His head immediately lifted, his heart jumping at the sound despite the fact he could clearly smell Harry on the other side of the door.

“Harry?” Louis called.

The door opened slowly and Harry stuck his head into the room, offering Louis a sheepish smile.

“Hey,” Harry said, “Can I come in?”

Louis nodded, folding up the book. Harry came further into the room and then moved to sit at the foot of the bed, spreading out his hands and rubbing them on the quilt.

“Whatcha you reading?” he asked, and Louis held up the book for him to see.

“That’s a good one,” he nodded.

“Yeah,” Louis agreed, then, “What’s going on?”

Harry sighed, looking down at his knees. His hand ran up and down the quilt, and Louis watched its back and forth movement.

Finally, the alpha looked up, and offered Louis a sad smile.

“Can you tell me about the pack?” he asked.

Louis frowned, and set the book aside on the bedside table.

“What?”

“I want to know about what happened,” Harry said, “After I left, what happened to my family. What happened to you. What’s going on now.”

Louis just stared at him, and Harry leaned forward, his eyes wide.

“Louis,” he said, his voice firm, “You told me it was bad, and I ignored that. But I need to know now. Please tell me.”

Louis’s mouth popped open, a perfect circle. Harry’s hand shot out and covered Louis’s hand with his own. Louis looked down at their shared hands and blinked, feeling the warmth of it. Then he looked back at Harry, who was fixing him with warm and steady eyes.

Louis began speaking before he could think.

“Your uncle became alpha. And he’s an awful alpha. He doesn’t do shit to help any of us and he doesn’t even make us medicine anymore, and he’s the only one who knew how to make half of it, but he won’t tell us how to make it. He didn’t know how to hunt and didn’t know how to keep the hunt running. So I did it. No one wanted to let me, and the alphas tried to throw me out of the hunt, until the winter came, and they realized I was their best hunter. So they let me lead it. And Nigel let it happen because he knew he would starve without me.”

Louis swallowed hard, his throat bitter.

“Nigel said he wanted to mate me right after I turned eighteen, and I said no. I didn’t want to, and I had a hunt to lead, and I couldn’t hunt if I was pregnant and mothering his pups all the time, so he let me. But he got tired of waiting, and the council said I would have to marry him,” Louis continued, “He said he would’ve mated your mother if your father’s tie to her wasn’t so strong.”

Harry winced and his grip tightened on the quilt, making the fabric wrinkle under his whitening hands.

“You said my mom wasn’t good,” Harry managed, his voice weak.

“No, Harry,” Louis said, “She’s sick but none of us know how. Her heart is healthy and her body is strong but she doesn’t move, doesn’t sleep. When your father died and you went away the light inside her went out.”

He looked down at his hands, twisting his fingers together.

“It’s like we have no pack alpha but no pack omega,” Louis said, “We have no one to lead us.”

Harry nodded, the movement stiff.

“And your family?”

“We’re holding on,” Louis said, “My father holds the council together, even if it means selling my matehood, I guess. Mom is good, she helps me with the food supply and makes sure I sleep. Grandmama – “

He stopped, his voice suddenly feeling too rough to come out.

“Grandmama died a few years ago,” Louis managed, “None of us thought she was sick. She just went to sleep one night and joined the earth the next day.”

Harry’s hand squeezed Louis’s then, and Louis started before his body relaxed, the weight and feeling of Harry’s hand already becoming so natural.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said gently.

“Thanks,” Louis said, and then snorted, “You know, I think she was just getting used to the idea of me hunting, too.”

Harry offered a soft, short laugh, and then they both fell quiet again.

“What else?” Harry asked.

“The pack is sick,” Louis told him. “We have no medicine, and the winters are too cold and the summers too hot. A lot of people have died. A lot have left but we don’t know where they went. There are only a few babies born every year now.”

Louis squeezed his knees tight, closing his eyes.

“The forest is sick, too,” he said, “The river is dry, so is the earth. The deer have gone away, we just have rabbits and berries now, we have to walk hours for water. But no one wants to leave, and I don’t either. But I don’t know how much longer we can survive there.”

He finally felt his voice thicken so much he couldn’t speak, and then he was hiccupping wetly. His eyes watered, and immediately, Harry was surging forward to catch Louis’s body as he leaned forward.

“I got you,” Harry said quickly, “It’s okay.”

Louis just hiccupped again. He collapsed into Harry until his head was in the alpha’s lap. He curled up, making his body tight, and sobbed weakly into Harry’s sweatpants-clad thigh.

Harry stroked his hair with one hand and held Louis tightly with the other, smoothly shushing the omega.

“I have you,” he said again, and then, “Luna. I have you.”

Louis blinked at the nickname, and lifted his gaze up at the alpha who was looking over at him, his arm still tight around Louis’s body.

“You – “

“I have wanted to call you that for a long, long time,” Harry admitted. His lips quirked, and he shook his head, “Remind me why your mother called you that.”

“It was going to be my name if I was a girl,” Louis recited, the story familiar to him. “But she kept calling me that because she said I was her moon. The most precious thing she had, or that the entire pack would have.”

Louis remembered his mother’s words well from when he was a child. Back then, it was wrapped in warmth and his mother’s laugh, but he felt different as he offered the words to Harry. It felt like a secret, like exposing a long-secret nerve.

Harry stroked Louis’s face, nodding.

“And the most beautiful thing we have,” Harry said, “The one the pack looks to in both the darkest nights and the clearest days.”

Louis blinked, his still-damp lashes sticking together as he did.

“You are my moon, my Luna,” Harry said, “You always have been. But you belong to the pack more than to me.”

Louis caught Harry’s hand, squeezing it.

“It has not felt like my pack since you went again,” he confessed, “There has always been something missing.”

Harry gazed down at Louis, and then he leaned down, pressing his lips to Louis’s own. The touch was careful, Harry’s fingers still entangled in his hair. Louis whined appreciatively, and felt Harry smile against his lips as he kissed him back.

But then the smile faded under Louis’s mouth, and Harry pulled away. Louis blinked his eyes open and looked up at the alpha, whose eyes had gone stormy.

“What did my uncle say happened to my father?” Harry asked.

Louis blinked in confusion and titled his head.

“Harry, you know what happened to your father,” he said, “You were there. A bear attacked him to protect you. But you ran away before the bear could get you like it got him.”

Harry shook his head and groaned, reaching up to rub his temples.

“God, fuck,” he mumbled, and Louis frowned.

“Harry?”

Harry pulled his fingers away from his temples and looked down at the omega, his eyes still dark and far away.

“Louis,” Harry said softly, “Bears don’t go out in the night. You know that better than anyone. Not unless something is wrong.”

Louis frowned harder, and Harry sighed and tugged on the back of Louis’s nightgown.

“Come up here,” he said softly, and Louis did. He sat up, crossing his legs, and faced Harry properly.

“What?” he asked, his voice quivering as he asked.

Harry silently took his hands, squeezing them tightly.

“Louis,” Harry said, “I need to tell you why I left.”

**

When Harry’s words had dried up, Louis felt heavy and exhausted, his head too light. He laid down on the bed, and Harry lifted his hand, carding it through the omega’s hair. There were still fresh tears in the alpha’s eyes, and his voice was raspy when he spoke.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and in the next moment, Louis shook his head.

“Don’t be,” Louis said, although his voice felt like it came from somewhere other than his own chest.

Harry shifted on the bed, and for a brief moment, Louis was very, very sure Harry was going to leave.

And he did not want that at all.

Louis’s hand shot out and grabbed for Harry’s wrist, and he tugged.

“Stay,” he murmured, and Harry’s breath halted.

“In bed?” he asked, “With you?”

“Yes,” Louis begged, “Please.”

Harry didn’t move for a moment, but then he was shifting and moving down next to Louis. He pulled an arm around him, his chest to Louis’s back, but Louis squirmed until he was laying front to front with Harry, nestling his head under Harry’s chin. He heard the alpha exhale above him, and he breathed out in turn.

“Don’t leave in the middle of the night,” Louis heard his voice come again from that place he couldn’t control.

Harry’s arm tightened around Louis, and his lips ghosted the shell of his ear in the promise of a kiss.

**

Louis woke to Harry’s arm still firmly around him, his sleep-heated body pressed against Louis’s own. He was suddenly aware of every bit of Harry’s form, his lean torso and his soft skin and strong arms; even when hidden under the sweater and sweatpants Harry had fallen asleep in, Louis could feel his body, feel his breath.

And with every moment he laid against Harry, he was aware of his own body reacting in turn, how hot he felt from the inside out, how his stomach stirred and the back of his neck prickled as he inhaled Harry’s scent.

Louis was staring when the alpha woke up, his eyes sleep-mused as he squinted at Louis.

“Hey,” he said, his voice high and questioning, “Morning?”

“Morning,” Louis returned, “I’m thinking.”

“Mm,” Harry hummed, bobbing his head, “’Bout what?”

Louis swallowed, that prickling heat rushing over his body again.

“That I don’t think the pack was wrong when they promised us to each other.”

Harry gave him a long look, his brows furrowed, and then his face lightened, his eyes brightening.

“Yeah?” he ventured.

“Yeah,” Louis returned.

Harry smiled at him, and then leaned forward, offering him a soft kiss. His lips were sticky with sleep but Louis didn’t mind himself caring. He enjoyed the taste of Harry, his touch, his presence.

What he said after they pulled away felt like most simple thing in the world.

“Harry,” Louis said, “I want you to be my mate.”

Harry’s expression grew confused again.

“Your mate?” he repeated.

“Yes,” Louis continued, “My life mate. My bond mate. My – “

The word _alpha_ stuck in his throat, too heavy to come out. Harry lifted his brows, seeming to guess the word before it could come out.

“You’re promised to the pack alpha,” Harry said slowly, “That’s still not me.” 

“And I don’t want him,” Louis insisted. He brought a hand up, setting it on Harry’s face, “I want you. I’ve always wanted you.”

Harry’s eyes were heavy on him, and Louis could see thoughts flying in his head, but he was unable to decipher any of them. His stomach grew heavy, and his muscles tensed at the idea of Harry saying no.

Instead, Harry grinned, his laugh weak as he shook his head.

“God, shit,” he sighed, “I was going to propose to you a lot better than this.”

“Propose?” Louis echoed.

“Yeah, Louis, God – “ Harry shook his head, “I had at least twenty plans to propose you over the years, probably from the time I was four.”

Louis’s mouth opened, but Harry rushed on.

“I mean, when I was four, I was just going to pick you some flowers and honestly I mostly wanted to be your mate so you would finally kiss me,” Harry said, “And then, when we got older, I used to tell my dad about these elaborate plans we had, like, I was going to learn how to climb the tallest tree in the forest and climb it with you and propose at the top. Probably good he talked me out of it or I would’ve fallen and cracked my head open trying to practice.”

He snorted, rolling his eyes at himself, and then grew quiet.

“And in the last few years, I would still think about it sometimes,” he admitted, “It always changed, if we were in the woods or here. Sometimes I would imagine us at dinner and putting a ring in glass of champagne for you. But that doesn’t really fit.”

“I don’t know what champagne is,” Louis said, “And why would I want a ring?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Harry snorted, “Champagne is a kind of alcohol. And humans give each other rings when they ask each other to marry them…I mean, I guess for humans that’s the same as mating. Just more paperwork.”

Louis frowned, thinking back to all the thick rings Harry wore during the day.

“Have a lot of people asked you to marry them?”

Harry stared at him, and then barked a laugh.

“Oh, my rings aren’t engagement rings. Humans have different kinds of rings.”

“That’s dumb.”

“You’re right, as always,” Harry laughed. He grew quiet again, and then his mouth twitched as he looked at Louis, “But mostly I just imagined us, in a field or a clearing somewhere, and you had flowers in your hair like you always used to have, and it just…it felt right, then.”

He nodded to himself, his eyes going hazy for a moment before focusing again.

“But I like this version best, I think.”

He reached out, tucking a long strand of Louis’s hair out of his face, as a careful smile finally settled on his mouth. 

“So, to answer your question,” Harry said, “Yes, Louis, I will be your mate. With the most pleasure I have ever had, I will do that.”

Louis looked at the alpha like he would regard the pattern of the trees of the shape of stones on the ground or the rise and fall of a deer’s breath in its body, cataloguing every last detail and saving it like it was his most precious knowledge.

Then he surged forward and kissed Harry fiercely. His whole body crashed onto the alpha, and Harry gasped against his mouth before returning it. Harry’s hands grasped at Louis’s nightgown, and then moved upwards, moving over his face and into his hair. He seemed to be grasping for any part of Louis could find, and Louis gave every bit of himself that Harry’s hands asked for.

They pulled apart breathlessly, and Louis laughed and smoothed his hands over his hair, trying to push down the loose ends that had fallen into his face. When he looked fully at Harry again, he became quiet, the weight of the promise they had just made settling onto him.

“So, um,” Louis stuttered, “When should we, uh – “

He trailed off, but recognition seemed to spark in Harry’s eyes, and his smile twitched as he looked at Louis.

“Well, this weekend’s a long weekend,” he finally said, “Might as well, huh?”

His voice was light, but Louis could hear both nerves and excitement in his words.

He reached out to the alpha, settling a hand over Harry’s own, and the alpha started at the touch, looking down at Louis’s fingers and then up to his face.

Louis offered the most reassuring smile he could, even though he was sure both his fingers and voice shook with nerves.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “Might as well.”

**

When the long weekend arrived, Harry was noticeably nervous.

He cooked Louis his meals with usual care, but he kept dropping things on the floor – spoons and plastic cups and in a couple instances, eggs – and he seemed far away. But he kissed Louis readily, rubbing the top of his head and pecking near-constant kisses onto his temple, his cheek, his lips.

He put on movies for Louis and gave him his usual books and puzzles, but Louis would always look away and find Harry staring at him, a far away look in his eyes.

“I just love you,” he said softly, and Louis smiled, his skin flushing.

“I know,” he said in turn, “I love you, too.”

When the sun set, Harry fixed Louis hot chocolate and a bowl of ice cream, and they watched the sky turn into strips of lilac and pink, the moon cresting above the fading sun. Louis leaned his head against Harry’s shoulder when it was finally dark and both his bowl and mug were empty, and Harry looked down at Louis and kissed his head.

“Harry,” Louis said softly.

“Yeah?”

“Can we go to your room?”

The alpha’s body went stiff at that, but then quickly unspooled as he breathed out. He stroked Louis’s hair and kissed him again, offered one last long breath.

“Of course we can.”

Louis moved his head off Harry’s shoulder and they moved to the bedroom, Harry offering Louis’s hand to guide him to a door only a few paces away. Harry turned on the lights up kept them dim, and Louis looked around the room for a moment so he could orient himself.

Harry’s room was dressed up in dark browns and greens, with a big bed in the middle, covered in a thick green quilt. He had paintings and photographs hung up on the wall, most of them blurs of light and color with no clear subject. He had a thick book on his bedside table and a dish full of his rings stacked on his dresser, and a pair of his slippers were knocked on their side next to the bed.

Harry’s hands pulled Louis until he was sitting on the bed, and then they became careful. Harry offered up his palms to touch Louis’s shoulders, his arms, his knees.

“Can I?” he offered before each touch, and every time, Louis said yes.

They kissed, too, at first gentle, and then slowly becoming harder and longer, with more breath and more heat building under Louis’s skin. Harry’s hands were building in their bravery, skating over more and more of him.

Louis broke away from their kiss with a gasp, and Harry’s eyes immediately widened.

“Fuck, did I do something?” he asked, and Louis shook his head.

“No, no,” he said, and then, quietly, “Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“I,” Louis stuttered, “I’ve never been with anyone before.”

Harry was quiet, and Louis rushed to fill the silence.

“The pack omega can’t have sex with anyone before the pack alpha,” he explained, “I mean. You know that. So I could never. Uh. I just never. Other people did, of course, um, all your old friends, they all got mated, or had sex, but I couldn’t – “

“Louis,” Harry cut in, his voice firm enough to make the words die in Louis’s throat, his mouth still open.

“What?” he managed.

“I’ve never been with anyone either,” Harry said.

Louis just frowned at him.

“But,” he said, “You’ve lived here for so long.”

“So?” Harry said with a gentle smile.

“You – you do human things now,” Louis said, waving his hands around, “You drive a car, you have tattoos, you have a human job – “

“Why does any of that mean I’ve had sex?” Harry said, his smile still careful and amused, “Louis, I hadn’t even kissed anyone since I kissed you when we were kids.”

“Yeah, but – “ Louis stuttered, “Isn’t that how humans do things? Don’t they have sex whenever they want?”

“Sure,” Harry laughed, “But I didn’t.”

He grabbed Louis’s hands, settling them, and Louis blinked, his mouth suddenly dry.

“Louis,” Harry sighed, “I couldn’t – I couldn’t be with anyone that wasn’t you.”

“Me?” Louis got out.

“Yes, you,” Harry said, “I tried, I did. I tried to go on dates, I let Liam and Niall set me up with people. But it never worked out with anyone else.”

“But,” Louis butted in, “You weren’t going to go to the pack, and you didn’t know I would find you. Were you just going to be alone?”

“No, I wasn’t going to go back,” Harry agreed, “But I also thought if I went back you wouldn’t want me anyways, so. I guess I learned to live with the idea of being alone and without you.”

He shrugged, and Louis just looked at him, and his sad, resigned smile, before lunging forward. He grabbed Harry’s shoulders and pulled him in, making the other man start and then meet Louis’s lips, kissing him back.

Louis pulled away, gasping, and Harry just looked at him with wide eyes.

“I thought of you every single heat I’ve had since I was sixteen,” Louis blurted out.

“I – “ Harry stuttered, his eyes blown wide.

“I did. I thought you were dead, but I still thought of you,” Louis said, “What you would have looked like if you were there.”

He reached out to Harry cautiously as he said it, running his fingers down Harry’s still-clothed chest.

“I would’ve been fourteen when you were sixteen,” Harry said awkwardly, “I was so awkward, and – “

“Then show me what you look like now,” Louis interrupted, making Harry go quiet.

“What?”

“Take your clothes off, Harry,” Louis said flatly.

Harry looked at Louis for a moment, and then quickly stripped. He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it back onto the bed, then he leaned forward, pressing his knuckles into the bed as he did. Louis followed the line of his body as Harry moved forward. His strong, pale shoulders flexed, making the black lines of his tattoos ripple. His chest was round and firm and his stomach was a smooth, flat plane, with a large swath of ink splayed over his muscles. There was hair on his belly and on his chest, and Louis reached up to touch the stubble on his chin and above his lip, reverently rubbing his fingers over it. He felt his breath catch in his throat and Harry just closed his eyes and let Louis feel his face, from the hair on his jaw to the fine lines that bunched near his eyes.

Louis only exhaled when Harry opened his eyes, the depths of the forest looking back at him in the low light.

“Louis,” Harry said, “Let me take care of you.”

Louis just looked at him, and Harry leaned forward again, his breath gentle and warm.

“Luna,” Harry said this time, “Can I take care of you?”

Louis nodded, carefully, and in an instant Harry’s body was on his, a hard, strong plane against Louis’s smaller body. Harry’s big hands went to his waist and Louis gasped as the alpha guided him onto his back. Adrenaline raced through him, warming him all over, and his belly jumped as Harry kissed him again. He slid his hands over Louis’s waist, across the soft slope of his stomach.

“Can I take your shirt off?” Harry asked, and Louis nodded so quickly his vision blurred. He sat up and Harry tugged his top off, and the instant it was off the alpha had him pressed on the mattress again, his hands roaming, big and rough and warm. Louis shivered despite the warmth running through him, and Harry kissed him firmly, enough to make Louis’s vision cross again.

“I got you,” Harry said, even though his voice wavered. Louis remembered, passively, that this was Harry’s first time, too, and he had every reason to be nervous.

But Harry was his alpha. Harry taking care of him was as natural as the trees growing towards the sky.

Harry leaned down and kissed Louis, his lips gentle on Louis’s own mouth once more. Harry’s hands were all over his slight chest, his small waist, his peaked nipples. Every touch made Louis squirm, his skin unused to the foreign touch. Soon, Harry moved down, laving over Louis’s body with his lips and tongue in turn with his hands. He kissed the omega’s nipples and licked and pecked down his belly, making Louis squirm more until Harry held his hips carefully with his hands. Louis felt his cock perk and harden, and he felt slick between his cheeks and down on the top part of his thighs, his body reacting with every touch from the alpha on top of him.

When Harry got to the waistband of Louis’s shorts, he blinked up at him.

“Can I take them off?” he asked.

“I, um,” Louis stuttered, blushing from his cheeks to his navel, “M’not wearing anything underneath.”

“Oh,” Harry whispered, and Louis sat forward.

“Um,” Louis said, “If you take off yours you can take off mine.”

Harry laughed weakly, shaking his head.

“Fair enough, huh?”

He paused, his hands on his waistband, and then carefully, he unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them off. He had to shift on the bed, struggling to pull the denim off his long legs, but eventually he was left in his short black underwear. He reached for those as well, giving Louis a look.

“Can I?” he asked, and Louis gave him a quick nod, making Harry’s brows crease.

“Can you tell me out loud?” he asked.

“Oh,” Louis murmured, then coughed, “Yes. Yes. Please.”

He laughed, covering his face with his hands.

“God, I’m sorry, I’m just so nervous, and – “

“Hey,” Harry said, reached to touch Louis’s hand, “It’s okay.”

Louis moved his hands away and looked at his alpha, who was just looked at him with careful eyes.

“We don’t have to do this, Louis,” Harry said, “We can just put everything back on and watch a movie, it’s okay.”

“No, no,” Louis said immediately, sitting up, “I – I want to, really bad. I just – “

He stopped, looking long and hard at Harry.

“Do you want to?”

“Of course,” Harry said, “I – god, Louis, this is all I’ve dreamed of since I was thirteen.”

He reached up, pushing the hair from Louis’s face.

“But I want to make sure you want to,” Harry said, “Please, I need to know.”

Louis nodded, swallowing down the hard lump that his own anxiety had deposited in his throat.

“I know,” Louis said, “I want this. I want you.”

Harry regarded Louis again, and then gently touched his face, running his fingers over Louis’s cheek and jaw. He leaned in, offering the omega a gentle kiss, and Louis sighed and closed his eyes, letting Harry kiss and breathe into him.

When the alpha pulled away, his hands went back to his waistband, and Louis gave him a firm nod, and he finally pulled them down.

Louis’s face as soon as the fabric was pulled down to Harry’s thighs. His cock was long, hard and thick, red on the end and already leaking. A giggle slipped out of Louis’s lips and his eyes immediately widened and he slapped his hands over his lips as Harry lifted his brows.

“Something funny?”

“I’m sorry!” Louis said, “I – it’s so nice, really, I just – I’d never – oh.”

He shook his head, giggling again nervously. He didn’t know what had come over him; he lived with wolves, he had seen plenty of nudity in his life. But he had never seen an alpha nude on purpose, and in a way that was the first act towards sex.

“It’s okay,” Harry said gently, “I’m teasing.”

Louis nodded, and watched the alpha pulled his boxers off entirely and then toss them on the floor. Louis was still staring at his penis, how it bobbed and shifted in a way that seemed totally alien.

“Can I, um,” Louis asked, and immediately blushed when Harry looked at him, “Can I touch it, maybe?”

Harry’s own face reddened, but he nodded.

“Sure you can,” he said, his voice noticeably higher than usual.

Louis swallowed and leaned forward and, with careful fingers, touched Harry’s cock. The alpha immediately reacting, shuddering to Louis’s touch, and the omega looked up at him with saucer-wide eyes.

“I’m okay,” Harry quickly told him, “That feels really good.”

Louis still hesitated for a moment, and then ran his fingers down the alpha’s length again. Again, Harry shuddered, and his cock twitched, making Louis snap his hand back before cautiously it back to touch the soft, warm skin. He ran his fingers down, feeling its firmness, and then touched the base, running his fingers down the course hair at the base, over Harry’s tight balls. The alpha moved with every touch, but each movement was different, his body a twisting puzzle at Louis’s touch. When Louis’s fingers moved up to the top of Harry’s cock, the alpha shuddered harder, and his cock spurted more wetness.

Louis pulled his hand away again, and this time, Harry grabbed it, gently pulling on his hand so he could kiss the inside of his wrist.

“I love you,” Harry murmured, and Louis blinked at the words and how sweet they sounded. Harry gazed up at him, his darkened eyes peering up through his dark lashes.

“Can I see you?” he whispered, feather soft.

“Yes,” Louis said immediately.

He laid back, his body relaxing, and Harry touched his hips, over his waistband. He pulled gently on the fabric, and Louis exhaled, closing his eyes as the fabric slipped off of him until he was laid bare. He heard Harry gasp, but did not open his eyes until he felt his shorts fall off his legs.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Harry looking back at him with an open mouth and damp eyes. He shook his head, swallowing hard as he gazed at Louis.

“You’re so stunning,” he said, his voice mostly breath.

Louis blinked back at him, his throat growing thick as his belly turned pleasantly.

“You can touch me,” Louis said, then gently added, “If you want.”

Harry smiled, shaking his head.

“If I want,” he repeated, “Of course I want to.”

He leaned forward and touched Louis’s hips, running his fingers carefully over the smooth skin, and then, finally put his hand on Louis’s hardened cock.

The omega jumped at the touch, twitching and mewling as Harry touched him. The touch was gentle, only with his fingertips, but Harry’s eyes widened as he watched Louis move.

“I – “ he stuttered, “Feel good?”

It felt incredible in a way Louis couldn’t describe, the touch itself was simple but sent ripples up his spine and into his bloodstream. Harry’s scent was sharp in his nose, and it overwhelmed him, the touch and pheromones coming from the man over top of him.

“Harry,” Louis managed to get out, and Harry rose up over him, kissing Louis’s forehead, his hand still on his prick.

“I’m here,” he said gently, and Louis nodded quickly.

He felt himself flush and grow more wet as Harry touched him, making Louis fall apart more and more with his careful hands. Eventually, Louis mewled again, loud, and it was enough to make Harry stop.

“Harry, I – “ Louis said, “I’m ready. I’m ready for you.”

Harry froze, and he blinked as he gazed at Louis.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Louis said, his words running together, “Please. _Please_.” 

“Okay, honey, okay,” Harry said quickly, “One second.”

He sat up on his knees and leaned over Louis, grasping for the drawer on his bedside table.

“What are you doing” Louis asked.

“I’m getting a condom,” Harry supplied, which made Louis frown.

“What are condoms?”

“They keep you from getting pregnant.”

“Oh,” Louis said.

“Yeah, Liam gave me a box a little while ago, he said I needed to get laid. It’s here somewhere.”

Harry rooted around in his bedside drawer for a few minutes, and then finally pulled out a small box. He struggled for a few minutes to take off the plastic wrapping, and then dug inside. He only lowered his haunches and sat back on the mattress when he had a little foil square in his hand, which he quickly started tearing at.

Louis just looked in rapt fascination as he took out a little circle and then reached down to put on the tip of his penis. He rolled it down, the circle unfurling over his length, until it was all the way down.

“That’s going to stop me from getting pregnant?” Louis asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Harry confirmed, tossing away the foil wrapper.

“Humans are weird,” Louis said.

“Yes,” Harry chuckled, “Yes, they are.”

He quieted then, and touched Louis’s hip, gently dragging his hand down the soft skin and Louis’s sharp hipbone.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and Louis nodded.

“I feel fine,” he said, and Harry smiled awkwardly.

“Well, nothing’s happened yet,” he said.

“I know,” Louis said, “But I feel okay.”

He reached out, spreading his fingers, and carefully, Harry took his hand, threading their fingers together. He gave Louis’s hand a squeeze and then leaned in to give him a kiss.

“Relax,” he said. Louis spread his legs and forced every bit of his body to loosen as Harry came closer, his condom-lad cock in his hand.

When he first pushed inside, Louis hissed and whined, his back arching sharply off the mattress.

“ _Oh_ ,” he gasped, his eyes widening. Harry’s big hand rested on his belly, and Louis lifted his gaze to see Harry looking at him with worried eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m – “ Louis swallowed, shaking his head, “Just keep going.”

Harry nodded, and then pressed in more. Louis moaned, sharply biting his lip as Harry pushed into him even more. He was thick, stretching Louis open, and he just seemed to keep going, like his cock was going to go inside Louis forever.

But Louis felt his own body open for Harry, not just down below, but through every part of him. His muscles relaxed and flexed, easing his body more into the bed. He felt slick and his skin was hot, his belly stirring. Harry’s scent overwhelmed his mind and Louis’s lips parted as he breathed it in. Harry’s own mouth fell onto him, kissing Louis’s loosened mouth gently, molding over the omega’s relaxed lips.

Their hands were still intertwined next to Louis’s hip, and Harry had his other hand spread on Louis’s stomach as he rose over him, his body big and lean, his skin freckled and his hands coarse.

“I’m going to move a little bit,” Harry said, and Louis nodded. His voice was high and reedy as Harry moved inside him, his thick length probing Louis at every angle. The foreign pressure inside him felt so odd, but his body was still opening to it, and every inhale of Harry’s scent calmed him and made his muscles uncoil more.

“Still okay?” Harry asked, and Louis nodded once more.

Harry kept going, bucking his hips and making Louis gasp and whimper and groan under him. His eyes fluttered shut completely, and a word worked out of his throat, coming out in a single breath.

“Alpha,” Louis whispered.

Harry froze, his whole body stopping its movement. He only hovered over him, sweating and strong and still very much stuck inside Louis’s body.

Then his lips crushed down onto Louis, kissing him hard. Louis kissed back, the air pushed out of his lungs as Harry kissed him, rough and then soft, the two feelings chasing each other against Louis’s lips.

“Omega,” he exhaled when he pulled away, and Louis barely had time to catch his breath to say anything back before Harry’s head was skating down, over his bare shoulder.

Louis was completely still, his chest barely moving. Harry’s nose trailed over his neck, his lips on the curve of his shoulder, and he held there, at the intersection of Louis’s throat. Louis felt every hair on his body stand at high alert for the movement of the alpha’s nose and mouth, breathing him in and marking his territory, making his intentions clear.

Louis gave Harry’s hand the smallest squeeze.

In a second, Harry’s teeth were sinking into Louis’s shoulder.

Louis howled, a real howl that came from deep in his belly, accessing the part of him that was animal. Louis writhed against Harry, and his body released, a stream of wetness falling across his belly. Louis felt the alpha’s body bristle and move over him, his skin heating and pressing onto the omega. Louis’s howl turned to a whimper as he felt Harry’s cock begin to change and stretch, and his body welcomed his alpha’s knot until it was fully swollen and full and fat inside him.

His mind was far away, further than the woods, but Louis was still able to see Harry lift himself over him, his eyes wide and dark, blood on his mouth.

“Omega?” he said, and Louis blinked. There was pain in his shoulder, he could feel every single tooth mark inside his skin, but it didn’t feel new. It felt like it had been there his whole life and had just waited to make itself known.

“I – “ Louis stuttered, but his voice failed him. He just blinked, and Harry’s big, warm hand reached up to cup his cheek. Louis giggled and nudged Harry’s hand, making the alpha smile down at him. There was still blood on his mouth, and Louis should have found it off-putting but instead he just laughed again. It made Harry smile more, showing his red-stained teeth.

“Happy?” he asked, and Louis just nodded.

“So,” he managed to say before his voice failed him again. But Harry seemed to understand.

The alpha collapsed on top of Louis’s body, and Louis finally let go of his hand so he could wrap his arms around him and hold onto his strong back. He felt soft and safe, and it made Louis smile into his shoulder. Harry’s knot was still swollen, tying them together in a way far more temporary than the mark on Louis’s neck.

He nuzzled into Harry, and his eyes suddenly felt heavy, like all the energy in his body had been severed.

“Alpha,” he murmured, “Alpha, alpha…”

His voice grew thick and slow, and Harry nudged his nose into Louis’s neck, kissing over his raw bond mark.

“I’m here, Luna,” Harry whispered, “I am here, my love.”

Louis nodded, and then closed his eyes completely. He felt Harry kiss and lick his bond mark, squirming on top of him. Eventually he felt Harry’s knot begin to deflate, although he couldn’t tell if it had been ten minutes or ten hours. Harry shifted his hips, and Louis heard a wet noise as Harry’s hand worked over his softened cock, taking off his condom. When he was done he cuddled back onto Louis, shifting next to him but keeping one of his legs slung over Louis’s hips and belly. He kept his nose in Louis’s mark, and he sniffed weakly and licked at it again.

The omega reached for Harry’s hand, and once more intertwined their fingers as Harry kissed his mark with butterfly-gentle kisses.

Louis’s body felt warm and feather light, like he was reunited with a piece of his own heart. His alpha was hot and soft next to him, lavishing over Louis’s mark and whispering to Louis that he loved him.

When he blinked into the dark room, Louis could practically feel the press of the Earth under him, and he imagined himself in his teenage body as Harry kissed him only to rapidly scurry away, leaving Louis with an inexplicable electricity sparking through him.

As he leaned himself against Harry, that flicker of electricity was gone, replaced with a steady roar of fire in his belly and his chest, strong enough to never fade.

**

Louis woke to a wolf next to him. 

He didn’t realize it at first. He emerged from the deepest sleep he had had in a long time, his dreams full of a sweet smile and green eyes and the gentlest hands. His mind couldn’t quite piece together that he was awake, and the mark on his neck was still bleeding a little, and there was a two-hundred-pound black wolf on top of him.

When he realized, his eyes widened, and he tried to lift his hand to nudge Harry awake, but he couldn’t, his arms stuck under the wolf’s heavy paw, which was slung over him like Harry’s arm had been last night.

It _was_ Harry, Louis realized that quickly enough. He was the same color he had always been, a rich black the color of a deep night, and he smelled like Louis’s alpha, even in this form.

That, and he was occupying Harry’s bed.

Louis spoke, his voice raspy and unused.

“Harry,” he said, and the wolf’s ears twitched, but he remained asleep.

“Harry,” Louis tried, louder, to no avail. Eventually, he shouted, his voice scratching and straining as he did.

Finally, the wolf yawned, and when it was done, he worked his jaw, eventually letting out a little yip that Louis guessed was Harry’s way of trying to speak.

The wolf’s eyes opened after that, golden green appearing to Louis for the first time in years. The eyes narrowed, looking confused, and then glanced down, enough to see its own paws.

Quickly, the sheets around Harry were tangled as his body thrashed, the wolf yipping and twisting.

“Harry!” Louis shouted, trying to calm him, “Alpha!”

Harry did stop at that, the wolf stopping its frantic circles. And a moment later, the wolf was gone, and Louis’s very naked and very sweaty and confused alpha was in its place.

Harry panted, his eyes blown as he looked around. He touched his hands to his sheets, one of which had sizable claw marks ripped into it.

“What,” he rasped, “What the fuck.”

“Alpha,” Louis breathed out, a laugh coming out, “Alpha, you shifted.”

Harry’s mouth opened and closed in rapid succession as he looked around himself.

“I can’t – “ he started, and then his voice fizzled as he looked at the claw marks on the bed.

“I did,” he said, and then looked at Louis, “I did, didn’t I?”

Louis nodded, still awestruck by the memory of the wolf in front of him.

“Can you do it again?” he asked quietly.

Harry blinked at Louis, confusion still clouding his eyes.

“Maybe?” he offered, and then blinked again.

There was a wolf in front of Louis once more.

This time, Louis shrieked, high and happy, and clapped his hands over his mouth. He felt tears in his eyes, and he shook his head as he looked at the black wolf in his alpha’s bed.

He shifted himself, and soon, there was a small, brown-red wolf next to Harry’s own, nudging him with his snout, licking at his fur.

Harry tucked his snout into Louis’s marked shoulder, nosing at the spot, and licked it carefully. When he was down, he pulled away, looking at Louis’s wolf carefully.

Louis leapt off the bed and ran to the ajar bedroom door, slipping out. He heard Harry jump behind him, his paws landing heavily on the floor. He raced after Louis, into the living room, where Louis was giving the best chase he could in the small apartment. He wove through Harry’s sofa and coffee table with ease, while Harry clumsily stumbled through his own home, knocking over discarded water glasses and video game controllers with his tail.

The omega gave chase through the kitchen, his own room, the bathroom, and back out again, his small body always a little ahead of Harry. Louis’s body was singing with the joy of running and the high of his mating, and even though the floor under him was hard and slick, he could imagine it was the soft earth, an open sky above them.

Louis finally ground to a half in Harry’s bedroom, letting the alpha playfully tackle him on the floor and nip him playfully. Louis barked and then shifted, a small human under the giant wolf.

“Hey,” he said, “No biting.”

Harry shifted on top of him, the movement so fluid Louis would have never guessed he was out of practice.

“Fair,” Harry said, “Did my share of that last night.”

He nodded to Louis’s sore bond mark, and the omega softened as his gaze fell there.

Harry was panting and pink-cheeked, but as he looked at Louis’s bond mark, the quieter he became. When he looked back at Louis, his eyes were dark and clouded, his lips quivering.

“Louis,” Harry breathed out, “You gave me my wolf again.”

“I didn’t – “ Louis started, but Harry cut him off.

“Yes, you did,” he insisted, “ _Thank you_.”

He was grinning, suddenly, his entire face electrified.

“God, I forgot how good that feels,” he said, “Did it always feel that good? Holy shit.” 

He laughed, shaking his head, his curls flying everywhere, and Louis laughed back, nodding.

“Yeah, it has,” he said, “It’s the best feeling in the world.”

Harry just kept smiling, kept laughing. He moved off of Louis and then shifted, over and over, moving from wolf to human and back again as he pranced over his bedroom floor on all fours. When he had moved back to his human body one last time, he fell onto Louis, holding him tight and shoving his nose into his neck.

“Thank you,” he whispered one more time, and Louis held him right back, on the floor of Harry’s human apartment, with alien carpeting biting at his back, feeling perfectly at home.

“Thank you,” Louis echoed back, and he didn’t know what he was thanking Harry for, nothing, something, everything.

But it felt right.

**

They spent the next four days in bed, shifting form for fun, ordering in food, rolling in bed and discovering each other over and over again.

Louis’s shoulder was still tender and stung every time he rolled over on it, but his mind felt in place, his body steady, especially when Harry pressed a kiss into it; in bed, on the couch, in the shower.

On the fifth day, Louis found emptiness on the other side of the bed when he woke up. He heard a machine bubbling in the kitchen, the smell of coffee bitter and rich in the air. He pulled the covers off, his body warm enough to not even need a robe, and he padded out of bed in search of his alpha.

Harry was in the kitchen, naked at the counter as he watched the coffee maker bubble and brew. When Louis came in, he immediately looked his way and smiled, lifting up an arm for Louis to duck under. He kissed his hair, nosing into the soft tufts.

“Good morning,” Harry rasped, and Louis smiled.

“Hi,” he said in turn.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Harry nodded, and Louis closed his eyes, comfortable in the quiet from his alpha. Harry’s arm was heavy around his own shoulder, and Louis butted his shoulder with his forehead. Harry chuckled and kissed him again.

“Needy,” he murmured, and Louis growled weakly.

“Do you want some tea? Some juice?” Harry asked, and Louis shook his head.

“No, thank you.”

“Alright,” Harry nodded, “Let me know.”

He was quiet again after that, but he started drumming the fingers of his free hand against the counter, creating a nervous rhythm as he watched the coffee maker. Louis frowned, butting Harry’s shoulder again.

“Alpha?” he asked, and Harry started.

“Yeah?”

“What’s wrong?”

Harry opened his mouth and then closed it, shaking his head. Louis frowned again as Harry reached for the coffee maker, switching it off. When it was off, he turned to Louis, looking at him full on.

“I woke up thinking about the pack,” Harry said.

“Oh?” Louis managed, his brows knitting together.

“Yes,” Harry said, and then sighed. “Louis…that hasn’t been my pack for twelve years. It’s not mine. And I don’t know if I can ever lead it.”

Louis felt his stomach drop and grow old. He opened his mouth, ready to give Harry another tired push back.

“But,” Harry cut in, “It is your pack.”

Louis blinked, his mouth still open as he looked at the alpha.

“What?”

“It’s your pack, Louis,” Harry repeated. “You’ve been leading it better than I could, better than my father could, and definitely better than my piece of shit uncle could.”

He straightened his shoulders, and grabbed onto Louis’s shoulders, tilting his chin down to look at the omega properly.

“So I’m going to get it back for you.”

Louis blinked. He felt his stomach thaw, his cold nerves turning to a familiar, excited fire.

He rose onto his toes, looking at Harry with wide eyes. 

“So – “ he began, and slowly, a tentative smile rose on Harry’s lips.

“Tonight, pack whatever you need,” Harry said, “Because tomorrow, we’re going back to the woods.”


	3. Chapter 3

Harry was slow on the walk back.

They had left early that morning with just a heavy camping backpack on Harry’s shoulders full of supplies, water, and spare clothes, but by the afternoon they had barely gotten further than Louis could get by himself in an hour. Harry’s feet were clumsy and unpracticed on the forest paths, and as the human hiking trails disappeared and turned into untamed forest, he started grabbing onto trees for support at every step, cursing and having to stop to untangle his hiking-boot clad foot from a thicket of thorns.

Louis walked ahead of him, his shoes in one hand as he trod barefoot, smoothly moving from the lowest branches of one tree to another. He stopped and waited for Harry every few minutes, leaning on the nearest tree trunk as he watched his alpha trip through the woods in his big boots and his heavy pack.

“Maybe it would be faster if we shifted,” Louis suggested.

“I have a full bag with all our food, I’m not leaving it,” Harry huffed, his face red.

“We can probably strap it to your back,” Louis offered, “I mean, somehow.”

Harry shook his head, doubling over for a moment to catch his breath. He lifted a hand, waving it as if to dismiss the idea.

“Let’s just go,” he sighed, “I can keep going.”

Louis’s lips twitched, and he nodded.

“Okay.”

He jumped back to the forest floor, then, and put his shoes down so he could wiggle into them. Harry watched as Louis returned to his side, his feet already moving slower in the stiff shoes.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re slowing me down anyways,” Louis said, “Might as well keep you company.”

Harry gave him a weak smile, and then reached out his hand, spreading his fingers. Louis looked at it for a moment and then offered his own hand, letting Harry’s fingers envelop it. The alpha leaned forward, kissing Louis’s shoulder, and Louis shivered at the touch. His bond mark still felt tender, and he smiled at the feeling, reaching up to touch it with his free hand.

Harry watched him with careful, forest-green eyes, his smile cautious.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Louis said easily, “I mean, are you?”

Harry licked his lips, and then looked up at the trees over their head before he looked back at Louis.

“I’m just getting used to it again,” he admitted.

Louis nodded, looking at the tension in Harry’s face, in his jaw. He could see the scared teenager who had run away curled up inside of him, barely contained by the man he was now.

Carefully, Louis rose onto his toes so he could kiss Harry on the cheek, and the alpha smiled as Louis pulled away.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine the further we walk,” Harry said.

“You think so?”

“I mean, no,” Harry sighed, “But I guess I can try.”

He looked down at the forest floor, but Louis was still looking at his face and how it creased and tightened in places. He wanted to smooth it all away, but he knew that the further they went, the more Harry would probably frown and grimace at the thought of returning.

Louis only lifted his head when he heard a distinct rustle of feathers above him, and he smiled at the sight of the eagles that flew over them. 

“Look,” Louis said softly, pointing as the birds flew past. Harry looked up in turn, blinking as they flapped over the tree cover, cawing to each other and eventually flying out of view.

Harry looked back at Louis, frowning.

“Are birds usually still up here when it’s this cold?”

“Only sometimes,” Louis said, “Grandmama used to say that when birds are here this late they have something really important to do.”

“Yeah, I remember that,” Harry nodded, “So what do you think they’re here to do now?”

Louis squeezed Harry’s hand, the pressure tight against his fingers.

“I think the forest is welcoming you home.”

**

Over the next few days, there were times Louis forgot the reason they were traveling into the forest in the first place.

When Harry laid down his sleeping bag at night and Louis laid next to him, bare on the forest floor, his arm wrapped around Harry’s torso, his mind filled in a different scenario for them. They were out on a trip, enjoying the scenery. A post-mating honeymoon, some private bonding time just for the two of them.

But then the sun would rise and Harry would stretch and kiss him good morning, and in the next instant Louis had to remember that they were travelling, ever closer, to the jaws of the beast, to a place they had both escaped for good reasons and were returning to on unfulfilled potential.

The closer they got to camp, the slower Harry walked, and the more Louis clung to his side. The alpha turned his eyes upwards, looking at the dry trees, and then down to the earth, which crackled under his feet.

“Jesus,” he murmured, and then frowned, “I can’t hear the river. It really dried up, didn’t it?”

“Yes,” Louis said quietly, and Harry fell quiet again.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.

He breathed out, and his breath was white with the new chill.

They stood together, silent, until Harry lifted his head and looked at Louis with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry I left you,” he said.

Louis wasn’t sure if he meant him, or the whole pack. Part of him wanted to think he meant both.

Harry moved in front of Louis, then, the omega running to catch up behind him.

He stayed behind Harry, a hand on his back, as Harry stalked, slowly and purposefully, towards the pack.

**

Louis had never realized how small camp was until he had spent more than a month in a human village.

The number of tents had shrunk since he was a child, and they were centered in a tight circle. The paintings on their skins had faded from time and harsh wind, whipping away both the design and any desire anyone had to fix them. 

Harry stared with wide eyes out at the camp, and Louis kept a firm grip on his hand.

“Come on,” Louis said gently.

Harry near-stumbled into the pack grounds, and Louis swiveled his head, searching. He knew what time it was, and while just about everyone was asleep, he knew a few that wouldn’t be.

He found his hunting pack in the center of the most tightly packed tents, trying to divide up a morning’s hunt of squirrels into separate piles. They were hunched over, thick blankets over their shoulders as they worked, and Louis had to whistle to get them to look up.

They did, and they just blinked at him at first, unbelieving.

“Louis? You’re back?” Angel asked, and then his eyes quickly shifted to the person behind Louis, “Harry? What the fuck?”

Their voices quickly rose and collected as they shouted Harry’s name and came rushing towards him, squeezing him tightly and cooing and yipping with pleasure. Louis could see a few of their eyes growing wet, and Harry stood in the middle of them with his mouth dropped open as it all happened.

The young alphas pulled back eventually, and then, they were all shouting out the names of their parents, their siblings, their elders. Harry winced at first, but it was too late, and the tent flaps were already parting, wolves coming out to see what the fuss was about.

Soon, the entire pack, or what was left of it, came spooling out of their tents and running to the two of them. They greeted Louis with hard hugs and feverish kisses, and Louis accepted them in a daze, kneeling on the ground to hug and kiss the pups and then rising to his feet to accept greetings from his friends and the pack elders.

People moved around Harry like he was an illusion, gasping and staring, holding out cautious hands. His old friends were the first to come forward, giving him tight hugs. The elders were next, with their cold and hard hands clasping at Harry’s and admiring his new height and strength, complimenting on his eyes and smile that were the same. The children just stared with confusion as their siblings and parents told them who this man was and why he was so important.

When Louis’s mother came rushing out of the crowd, she hit the omega’s body hard, making the air in his lungs leave with a hard, weak wheeze.

“Oh, you stupid boy,” she sighed his ear, and then a moment later was pecking a series of hard kisses on his cheek, “My foolish Luna.”

“Hi, Mama,” Louis managed, even though his eyes were quickly filling.

He held her for a long time, and when he pulled away, she saw him gazing at Harry like the ghost he was.

“Is he – is he really – “

“I found him,” Louis provided, and Jay closed her eyes and pressed a loose hand to her mouth.

“My boy is a hunter,” she said, “Can track down anything.”

Louis opened his mouth to say something when his father appeared behind his mother, and quickly wrapped him in a hug.

“My son,” Mark said, his voice rough, “I am so sorry.”

“Hi, Papa,” Louis said, “I – thank you.”

“I should have never agreed to give you to him,” he said in a rush, “We didn’t know what to do, I – “

“Papa,” Louis interrupted, “It’s alright. It’s too late for him to do anything to me, anyways.”

He leaned in close and carefully pulled away the fabric of his shirt to show the fresh bond mark to his parents, who just stared at it and then looked over at Harry, who was still swept up in a sea of welcoming arms.

“My boys,” Jay smiled, and her face was brighter than Louis could remember it being in a long, long time, “Congratulations.”

She pulled him into his arms again, and Louis closed his eyes as she did. He was content to stay there forever if he could, but he looked up when a rusty, weak voice rose above the din of voices around him.

“Harry?”

The pack stopped, a hush collecting. The crowd parted, and slowly, Anne emerged from their ranks. She looked so small, hunched over, giving in to the weight of her heavy necklace. Her hair was greying and dull, but as she looked at Harry her entire face brightened, and she straightened up for the first time Louis could remember in years.

Harry looked at her, his eyes wet, and his lips quivered as he smiled at his mother.

“Hi, Momma,” he said, his voice weak but still strong enough to carry over the crowd.

Anne let out a weak, relieved gasp, and then she was moving forward, quick despite her clumsy, unpracticed feet. She launched herself at her son, and Harry caught her and held her tightly, burying his face into her hair. He was a full head taller than her now, but as Louis looked at them, he couldn’t tell if Harry was holding up Anne or the other way around.

They held each other tightly until the murmurs of the pack darkened. Louis heard the familiar tapping a cane a moment before Anne broke away from Harry, her mouth opening as she moved behind the tall alpha. Louis’s stomach twisted and he set his jaw as Nigel finally emerged from the group. He hobbled forward and swiveled his head, searching for answers.

“What’s going on here?” he snapped, his voice weak and rough. His gaze finally swept over to Louis, and the alpha’s mouth popped open, making Louis stiffen and then straighten, swallowing down the lump in his throat as the alpha’s eye passed him over.

But then in the next instant Nigel’s eye was swiveling and this time falling upon on Harry. Nigel blinked his last good eye, squinting forward.

“Harry?” he rasped, his voice quivering. He held on tightly to his cane, leaning on it to look closer.

Harry didn’t say anything; he just took a step forward. His heavy shoes crackled on the dry earth, and Louis looked at Nigel and how his eyes shifted over Harry’s body, looking at his human clothes, his tattoos, his taller frame, trying to find the boy he had known inside this man.

Nigel’s frame shook as Harry advanced on him, his expression stormy as he walked towards the older alpha. Nigel cleared his throat, the sound sharp and acidic.

“Well,” he said, “This is…quite the surprise.”

“Yes,” Harry replied in turn., “You like surprises, though. Don’t you, Uncle Nigel?”

Nigel started at this, confusion clouding his expression.

“Well, I – “

“Like when you said you had a surprise for me in the woods,” Harry said, “So special you wanted my father to see it, too.”

Louis drew in breath as he heard Harry speak, his narration far less gentle than when he told it to the omega. Nigel was silent, his mouth a firm line. His knuckles were white on his cane.

“You know this forest, I’ll give you that,” Harry said, “You know everything. You knew when the poison got into the bears that summer, when they were all sick and crazy. You knew they had started hunting at night, because they were half blind. Couldn’t tell the moon from the sun.”

“Harry, please,” Nigel coughed, “These are all stories.”

“You knew where they went. You watched them. You knew one would be there that night,” Harry kept going, taking a step with every word. He was getting so close, and Nigel stumbled, his cane scraping on the ground as he tried to move back, his dead leg barely helping.

“My father knew how to fight the bears,” Harry said, “He couldn’t fight a crazy bear, though. He didn’t know what the poison did to their minds. But you did.”

Harry narrowed his eyes, finally taking the final step to crowd into his uncle’s space. He was much taller than him now, and he looked down on the other alpha, who was gripping the cane with all he had.

“You poisoned the bears, uncle,” Harry said icily.

Louis heard a shock go through the pack, whispers and gasps, but Louis stood firmly, swallowing the lump in his throat as he watched his alpha.

“The first was an accident, the one you showed me and Louis in the woods. You were playing around with new mixes, one got into it, and she rotted in a ditch. But you knew you could do it again. And you did. And you watched, and you waited, until you knew you could lead my father to one. Unfortunately for you, I just happened to run too fast in the opposite direction.”

Harry kicked the ground, loose, dry pieces of earth coming loose under his boot.

“You’re very smart,” he said, “Too bad you’re too stupid to realize that you fuck with one part of the forest, the rest of it dies. The trees, the river, the birds, everything.”

He stuck his foot down, grinding his heel into the loose dirt.

“Except this pack,” Harry said, “But none of that is thanks to you.”

Harry turned, then, looking over to Louis. He offered him a gentle smile, and Louis gave one back, ducking his head. His jacket shifted on his shoulder, and he felt cool air on his neck, over his bond mark. He heard a few gasps near him, and they rippled like the river of a lake, until the whole pack was looking at him, their eyes on his throat.

Nigel was looking, too, his face sour as he shifted his eye to Harry.

“Is that your mark on my omega’s neck, boy?”

“He’s not your omega,” Harry said firmly, “He belongs to this pack. And he is the only reason you are still alive.”

Harry pulled his jacket off, tossing it to the side. He made careful work unclipping the buttons on his sleeves, rolling them up to his elbows.

“He could also beat you easily in a fight,” Harry said, “But, we have our traditions. So if he can’t beat you, I can.”

There was silence over the pack as they watched the two alphas. Louis crossed his arms tightly, watching the two of them, how Harry stood tall and proud over his uncle and the older man just stared at him, burned and quivering.

“Harry,” Nigel said carefully, a lean smile on his lips, “Come now. Think rationally. You think you can lead this pack? You have been with the humans for too long.”

“Yes, I have been with the humans,” Harry said, “So this should be an easy fight, huh? You should have no problem saying yes.”

Nigel’s mouth opened, blackened and shaking.

“Fight me for this pack, uncle,” Harry said, “Winner takes it all.”

A thick blanket of silence coated the pack as they stood, staring with wide, unmoving eyes at the two alphas. Louis moved forward, taking Anne by the elbow and moving her back, into the folds of the omegas standing nearby. He felt eyes shift to his fresh bond mark as he moved, but the gazes of the surrounding wolves inevitably moved back to what was happening in the center of the camp.

Harry was still just looking at Nigel, his body tall and angled while Nigel stood over his cane, small and burned as he looked at his nephew.

“Your father didn’t deserve to lead this pack,” Nigel finally said, “He was a brat from the time we were young, just like you.”

Harry just stared at him as the older man kept going.

“Took whatever he wanted,” Nigel continued, “You know he left me in the woods the day of the fire? I called for him but he never came back for me. He just needed to turn around and we both would have gotten out just fine. But he didn’t.”

Harry blinked at him, his eyes shifting a bit.

“Is that why you killed him?” Harry asked softly, “Is that why you tried to kill _me_?”

Nigel just looked at him, the corner of his mouth curling sharply.

“Not very nice to find out your father wasn’t perfect, is it, pup?” he asked.

Harry gave him another long look, his gaze sharp. But he dug his foot hard into the ground, kicking it back a few times.

“My father is dead,” Harry said firmly, “You’re not fighting him anymore. You’re fighting _me_.”

In an instant, there was an enormous black wolf snarling in front of Nigel and snapping its jaws. Anne gripped Louis’s arm tight, gasping out weakly.

“He’s beautiful,” she whispered softly, and Louis just lifted his hand, smoothing over her winter-chapped knuckles.

In the center of the pack, Nigel just stared at Harry, his hand shaking hard on his cane.

“You still act like a child,” he snapped, his voice shaking. Harry offered a sharp bark in return, and Nigel narrowed his eye.

“Fine,” he growled weakly.

His cane clattered to the ground, and he stumbled forward, falling to his knees before he could even shift fully. Louis tensed when he did shift. He had never seen Nigel’s wolf before, not when the alpha always stayed holed up in his tent or his cave with his very human body. The wolf in front of Harry was small, only a little bigger than Louis’s own wolf. Half his body was soot gray, and the other half was just as burnt as Nigel’s human body, the skin whirled and puckered, the legs bent as they folded, near-useless, under Nigel’s body. The skin of his snout was burnt off, showing the bleached white teeth in his mouth, the blackened tongue and gums. Above it all, his missing eye was still a puckered black hole, and his remaining eye was golden with a pin-small pupil that looked at Harry.

Harry’s paws skittered in front of him as he took in the alpha in front of him, and Louis’s body tightened as he watched. Harry looked uncertain as he looked at Nigel, like he was taking in the true damage to his uncle’s body all over again. The wolf in front of him was barely able to kill a squirrel, let alone take on another wolf, and Louis could see the hesitation in Harry’s shifting paws, his limp tail, his twitching nose.

Then Nigel shot forward, his burnt mouth opening just enough to grab hold of Harry’s thick scruff. Harry yowled, his front paws bouncing as Nigel clamped onto him. He shook his head, the way Louis often saw pups play, but there was nothing friendly about Nigel’s shaking. It was rough and violent, and Harry was yowling and whimpering, his feet skipping as he shook his head, trying to get Nigel off of him.

Louis squeezed where Anne’s hand rested on his shoulder as he watched his mate struggle to shake the alpha. It was so simple, but Harry was out of practice and Nigel’s grip was vengeful.

“Come on,” Louis whispered under his breath, “Alpha, come on.”

Harry kept thrashing against Nigel’s grip, his eyes wild as he skittered in a circle, staring out into the stone-quiet circle. He turned and his eyes flashed past Louis, and he stopped, meeting Louis’s eyes firmly.

He blinked, and then, in the next moment, Louis watched as his body shrank and his eyes lost their golden color, his black fur turned to flannel and denim and curly hair.

Soon Nigel only had his jaws clamped on the collar Harry’s red flannel shirt, and swiftly Harry ducked his arms into the shirt sleeves and shucked it off, rolling around from Nigel, who held the shirt weakly in his jaws. The older wolf just blinked, but before he could move towards the man in front of him, Harry was running, and then leaping, his body shifting as he moved.

He jumped on top of Nigel, pinning him to the ground. The older wolf yelped and brought up his one good front paw, scratching at Harry’s chest with long, unkempt claws. But Harry lifted himself and then jumped, his strong paws smacking Nigel’s shoulders. The old wolf’s bones cracked, and Louis inhaled sharply as Harry’s eyes widened and he backed away, frightened by the sound.

As soon as he had moved, Nigel was moving with vengeance, rushing towards Harry. He leapt and struck Harry hard on the nose, making the bigger wolf yelp and shake his head as he backed away. Nigel hit the dirt a moment later, whining as he hit his newly cracked shoulder. The bone looked ragged and uneven under his skin, shifting unnaturally as he tried to right himself.

Harry came forward, his gait cautious as he came closer. He tilted his head down but his snout barely touched the other wolf before Nigel snapped his jaws, making Harry flinch and fly back.

Nigel limped towards him, both legs weak as he dragged forward, his mouth still snarling at Harry. The bigger wolf just let him come, until Nigel was coming faster. Harry’s eyes flashed, and he moved his back feet, dancing back. Nigel moved with him, following Harry, his gait getting increasingly erratic and his breathing hard and dry as he pulled himself towards his nephew. But Harry’s movements were slow and meticulous. Louis watched him, his eyes narrowing.

The pieces of what was happening came to Louis a few seconds before they played out before him.

Harry stopped moving, staying in one place. Nigel coiled, his weak body jumping as his muscles tightened and readied. He leapt towards Harry, the last of his strength going into pushing his still-strong back leg off the ground.

Harry shifted, his human form overtaking his wolf, and he rolled, tightening into a ball, right as Nigel jumped, the fur of his uncle’s underbelly barely brushing the top of his head.

And then Nigel landed onto the cane he had left in the dirt, the sharp, carved end of it driving into his ribs.

A gasp rippled over the pack, but Louis stayed quiet, just looking at his alpha, balled on the ground, his t-shirt and jeans smeared in dirt. His uncle was still alive, Louis could hear the rasping, weak breath from the wolf on the ground. There was a small puddle of blood under him, his fur stained red at the place the cane had driven in. Slowly, his body shifted, the transformation sluggish as he became a man once more. His body looked even smaller as he curled on the ground.

Harry lifted his own head, blinking and staring at what he had done.

A long moment passed, and Louis watched each breath rise and fall in his alpha’s chest.

Another moment still slipped by, another chasing behind it.

Nigel didn’t rise.

“A victory,” Louis heard his father’s voice say, a million miles away.

“What?” someone asked, and louder, Mark repeated himself.

“A victory,” he said once more, “The fight goes until one of them cannot fight anymore.”

Shakily, Harry untangled his limbs and got to his feet. He crossed carefully over to his uncle, his gait slow.

“Alpha, wait,” Louis called, but Harry was already beside Nigel. He turned to look at Louis, and in the next moment, Nigel reached out his arm and grabbed Harry around the ankle, pulling hard.

Harry stumbled and Louis gasped, but then Harry kicked him, hard, and Nigel yowled and let go. Harry moved back, shaking the ankle Nigel had grabbed.

“Steel toed,” he offered, lifting his foot to show off his boot.

“You can’t win with human contraptions,” Nigel rasped. His mouth was filling with blood, and he spit weakly.

“I won before that,” Harry said, “One second.”

He jogged back over to the corner of the circle, where he had abandoned his backpack. He brought it back, rummaging through as he walked, until he pulled out his small plastic first aid kit. He dropped the rest of the pack on the ground and then knelt down next to Nigel, opening the kit up.

“What’s he doing?” Anne whispered, and Louis just blinked as Harry got out cotton wrapping, bandages, and antiseptic.

“He’s helping him,” Louis answered.

The whole pack watched, dead silent, as Harry treated Nigel. He broke off the long part of his cane, leaving just the carved head. He cleaned up the surrounding blood and the, carefully, pulled out the head before rapidly putting pressure and gauze on the wound, mumbling under his breath as he did so.

Eventually he rolled Nigel onto his back and finished dressing the wound with a thick, gauze bandage. He focused carefully on his work, but Nigel just stared at him, his mouth scabbed and frowning.

“What are you doing, boy?” he asked.

“Well,” Harry said, “While I’m sure it would give everyone here a lot of satisfaction to see you gone, I can’t do that.” 

Nigel stared up at Harry, spitting out the blood in his mouth again as he looked at him.

“What?” he rasped out.

“I don’t kill anymore, uncle,” Harry replied, “Not rabbits, not bears, and certainly not you.” 

“Don’t kill,” Nigel repeated slowly, and then laughed, “What kind of wolf are you?”

Harry only offered him a cool gaze as he straightened his shoulders. He wiped his hands on his jeans and then stood to his full height, looking at the man still on the ground.

“I am the alpha of this pack,” Harry said, “That’s what kind of wolf I am.”

The cheers of the pack sounded roaring yet far away in Louis’s ears as he looked at his alpha, the warmth of a fire forest in his chest.

“Now,” Harry said to Nigel, “We’re going to take you to the edge of the forest, beyond where even the bears used to be, and you’re going to stay there. We’ll do our best to wrestle some of those medicine recipes out of you first. But you’re not bothering this pack anymore.”

“And what will you do if I come back again?” Nigel said, “Alpha who doesn’t kill.”

Harry looked down at the wounded, half-burned alpha with a broken shoulder without a trace of laughter on his face and just shrugged.

“I’m sure my omega can come up with some ideas,” Harry said, “Speaking of which, Louis, Mark, could you give me a hand escorting my uncle out?” 

Louis smiled and looked towards his father, who returned his gaze. They came forward, going to meet Harry and the crumpled alpha at his feet. Mark grabbed Nigel by the scruff of his tunic and hauled him up to his unsteady feet.

“Watch the wound dressing,” Harry chided, and Mark nodded. He easily grabbed onto the old alpha’s hands, holding them tightly between his own. Nigel thrashed against the hold, his good leg digging into the dirt as he tried to knock Mark off. But the beta’s hands were strong, and Harry quickly appeared by his side, making Nigel shrink into himself at the sight of him.

“Louis, you can walk ahead,” Harry said, “You know the woods the best.”

Louis nodded, the smile still on his lips.

“Of course, Alpha,” he said.

He came forward and lifted his head, coming towards his mate.

“Wait!” a raspy voice called behind him, making him stop. Louis turned, and he saw Anne pushing her way back through the crowd. She advanced towards Louis with an unsure gait and a tender smile, and when she finally stopped in front of him, her smile turned beaming.

She reached behind her neck, her fingers fiddling, and then, the heavy necklace she wore came loose. She held it out, the ends of the chain firmly between her fingers. Instinctually, Louis bowed his head, welcoming Anne as he clasped the necklace around his own neck. He felt its weight, heavy and firm, as she pulled her hands away. He looked down at it and lifted his hand to touch the rows of natural stones and beads, the same necklace he had gazed up at when he had sat at Anne’s feet as a child. When he turned his gaze back to her, she smiled at him, her face sunny as she reached out and held Louis’s cheeks in her palms.

“It’s yours now, my love,” she said softly.

She leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, then pulled back and nodded, her eyes focusing over Louis’s shoulder.

“Go on now,” she said, and Louis just nodded and turned, going back over to where his alpha waited.

Harry beamed at Louis as he walked, and when the omega was back in front of him he easily tilted his head down and united their lips.

Louis could hear happy murmurs and shouts from the pack at the sight of them, but he only cared about Harry’s mouth, warming and inviting, on his own. When he pulled back he smiled brightly at his alpha, who looked back at him with the warm eyes that had followed Louis’s dreams for the last twelve years.

They were only interrupted by a wheezing cough and laugh, and Louis glared over at Nigel.

“You’re still a little whore,” Nigel offered, and Louis barked out a laugh before sharply kicking the alpha in his good shin, promptly making him gasp and collapse.

“God, Nigel, shut the _fuck_ up,” he sighed, then looked back at Harry, who was pressing his lips together, trying to resist a laugh.

“Play nice,” he offered, and Louis rolled his eyes.

“Never,” he said, then nodded his head towards the trees, “Come on. We want to make it back by nightfall.”

Harry nodded.

“I’m following you,” he said.

Louis offered his alpha his hand, and they moved ahead of Louis’s father and Nigel to stand at the front of the group. They advanced through the pack, who parted easily for them. Louis squeezed Harry’s hand as he felt their gaze, and Harry squeezed back, every scar and callous on his hand pressing into Louis’s own skin.

At the edge of the camp, he heard Harry catch his breath, the yawning infinity of the trees gazing back at him, and in an instant, Louis’s palm was pressing back into his, making his alpha exhale, his muscles unspooling.

Louis set his own shoulders back, looking ahead. He held his alpha’s hand tightly, and then pulled.

Harry followed behind him as they plunged into the woods. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’re reading this, thank you so much. I appreciate you greatly. Consider leaving a kudo and a comment, even if it’s a word long. It means more than you could ever know.
> 
> This was my full prompt for those interested: Prompt 348: kind of lion king inspired au: the pack’s greatest alpha styles welcomes a baby alpha boy harry in his home. omega baby louis is born soon after to one of the alpha’s close men. louis and harry grow up very close (like simba and nala!!) alpha styles dies in battle and young teen harry runs away defeated and too ashamed to show face to his pack because his dad’s beta (scar) makes him believe he has brought shame to the styles lineage. the beta resumes position as alpha and ruins the pack is cruel to the omegas and ruins the harmony with other packs. harry is living peacefully(but full of despair) in some mountainous town. years later (theyre 21ish now) louis has had enough of the ruthless new alpha and runs away sick of his life in what he used to call home. he hears of this lovely little hill station up in the mountains and decides thats the best place for a break. meets harry buying some muffins at a bakery and they have the whole reunion scene where harry takes louis to the little home he built himself and tells him all about the peace and calm in this town. louis tells him his family and his pack need him desperately and after a week or so (lots of lovely alpha omega time later) they leave to save the pack. harry fights off the beta ruler becomes alpha louis becomes the pack omega they have lovely little babies and louis’ the best princess omega harry could ever ask for (also they can obvs shift to wolves in this fic. liam and niall could be added as pumbaa and timun
> 
> Chat with me on Tumblr (eeveelou) and Twitter (itsdelsicle)


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